An 18-year-old Kearny man finds himself in some serious trouble after he allegedly tried to start a fire in a large Devon Street building in Kearny, the Kearny Police Department says.
On July 11, Officer Jonathan Lima was dispatched that building in response to a suspicious fire. An employee there reportedly observed smoke and an activated a fire alarm, and then used a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze out before it could cause further damage or grow out of control.
Kearny Fire Department inspectors and Kearny police officers and detectives investigated the scene. It was determined the fire was intentionally lit, but the person responsible had fled prior to the arrival of first responders.
Det. Alan Stickno obtained statements from witnesses who observed the suspect lighting the fire. Stickno also reviewed camera footage from the interior of the building, which corroborated the witnesses’ statements.
It was determined the culprit’s first attempts at lighting a fire failed, due to fire-resistant paint. Frustrated, he reportedly selected more flammable materials and was successful on his second attempt. Luckily, the aforementioned employee followed the smoke and extinguished this fire before it grew out of control.
Jerick Teran, 18, of Kearny, was arrested by Dets. Dave Bush and Stickno and was charged with arson, causing or risking widespread injury or damage, three counts of endangering another person, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct- creating a hazardous or physically dangerous condition. He was to be remanded to the Hudson County Jail following processing.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.