Another Teen Charged in Day Care Center Fire

Authorities have dropped charges against one teenager and brought them against another in connection with the April 5 early morning fire that destroyed a local day care center.

A 13-year-old youth arrested last month has been released, and a 14-year-old has been taken into custody.

The names of the youngsters and other details in the case have not been released.

The April 5 fire destroyed the 14,000-sq.ft Building Blocks Child Care and Development Center which was under construction on Hawkesburg Drive near the new Powhatan Elementary School. The blaze attracted firefighters from Clayton, Wilson's Mills and Garner.

Seven other recent fires, still unsolved, all involved homes under construction---two on Cameo Court last October and one of them again last December, two on Rolling Meadows in January and two more May 2 on Skygrove Drive. Police believe all the home fires are related "because they have a lot of similarities."

Police are offering a reward of $20,000 for information that will help them solve what Chief Glen Allen calls "these senseless crimes."

The large reward--$5,000 each from the Police Department, Clayton CrimeStoppers, the NC Governor's office and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms--is available for information resulting in an arrest and conviction in the case.

Clayton police and fire officials are being assisted by the State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The Chief said investigators have logged more than a thousand hours on the case since the first suspicious fire and plan to continue their efforts "until we solve these cases--all of them."

Police are asking residents to report any suspicious activity by calling the Department at 919-553-4611 or anonymously on the CrimeStoppers hotline at 919-359-8479.