Police: Teen arsonist wanted to 'do something crazy'

Police say a 14-year-old boy set fire to a Geneva elementary school last month because he had a "sudden urge to do something crazy."

He also listed "vandalism, anarchy and arson" among his interests on MySpace, according to recent filings in Kane County Circuit Court.

The Dec. 20 fire left school officials scrambling to repair Western Elementary by the end of winter break and forced the temporary relocation of the entire second-grade class.

The boy, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, is charged with arson, burglary and criminal damage to property. Police said he lives with his grandparents less than a mile from the school, 1500 Western Ave.

According to a search warrant affidavit, the boy told investigators he was in his bedroom when he got an urge for mischief, grabbed some matches and slipped out of the house unnoticed. Police said he walked to the school, stopping along the way to pick up a broken ice scraper he would use to break in through a window.

At 1:42 a.m., police and firefighters responded to a report of a Dumpster fire outside the school. While investigating that fire, an indoor alarm alerted them to fires in three separate classrooms, where book pages and desk papers were set ablaze.

Footprints in the snow leading away from the broken window took investigators to a lost inhaler and other evidence later tied to the boy, who is not a student of Geneva School District 304. Police also viewed a MySpace page they believe to be his and noted vandalism and lighting fires listed as "general interests."

The boy is on home electronic monitoring pending a March 6 court appearance.