3 boys charged with arson in Ga. fire

Three boys ages 7, 10 and 11 sat wide-eyed and looked scared during their initial court hearing on charges of starting a fire that destroyed several homes.

Juvenile Court Judge J. Stanley Rhymer ruled Tuesday that the two older boys must remain in a juvenile detention facility. He allowed the youngest to return home with his mother.

The boys did not immediately react. But when they saw the expressions on their parents' faces, they began to cry along with them.

The boys were arrested Monday night and charged with burglary and first-degree arson. They are accused of burglarizing a welding company and starting a brush fire that destroyed several homes in a retirement community.

The 7-year-old and 11-year-old are brothers from Lawrenceville. The 10-year-old boy is a cousin from Loganville. Their names have not been released because of their ages.

The boys were visiting their grandmother in Loganville on Sunday when they went to a nearby welding company, police said. They got in through a broken window, police said, and stole some tools, including two hammers, a marker, a level, a saw, a clamp, a punch, an oilcan and a disposable lighter.

They then lit two small fires, authorities said. One of the boys dumped some oil onto one of the fires and it started to spread quickly. After trying to stomp it out, the boys panicked and ran, authorities said.

Police found small footprints near the blaze. Later that day, the mother of two of the boys brought the three boys to the police station, where they cried as they confessed, police said.