Leads In Playground Fire Investigation Encourage Police

By Andrew Gorosko

Police are narrowing their investigation into the intentionally set October fire which destroyed a tots’ playground under construction at Treadwell Park in Sandy Hook, causing $15,000 in damage.

Acting Police Chief Michael Kehoe said, “We’ve narrowed in on suspects,” indicating that the police’s investigation into the fire is growing more promising.

Police have been interviewing people and gathering information about the crime in seeking to solve the nighttime incident, which startled many local residents and resulted in a flood of contributions, exceeding the amount needed to rebuild the destroyed structure.

“We hope we can get to the arrest stage,” said Detective Robert Tvardzik.

In such cases, police investigate the crime and present their findings to a judge who decides whether there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges. If the judge determines there is enough evidence, he signs an arrest warrant, which is served on the accused person or persons, who are then arraigned in court on the charges.

“The [investigative] leads are leading in a certain direction,” Acting Chief Kehoe said.

“We’re hoping to gain more information necessary to gain an arrest,” Det Tvardzik said.

The charges which would be filed would include reckless burning and first-degree criminal mischief, which are Class D felonies.

Police hope to make multiple arrests in the case within three months, Acting Chief Kehoe said. He declined to describe the suspects, other than to say there are multiple suspects.

“We do have definite suspects in mind,” Det Tvardzik said.

Police are awaiting the results of forensics testing in the investigation, he noted. A surveillance camera positioned at the nearby park swimming pool, which works around the clock, captured evidence of the fire.

Police believe the Adventure Quest playground was consumed by a set fire about 10 pm October 25 in a foggy park. The fire burned for an hour or more before exhausting its fuel supply. Parks and recreation workers discovered the charred, molten remains of the playground about 7:30 am the following day.

No one reported the fire while it was underway. It occurred in an isolated area of the park, not in plain sight from Philo Curtis Road.

The gate to the park, at the driveway entrance at Philo Curtis Road, had been left open inadvertently on the night of October 25-26.

Several days before the fire, volunteers had installed the aluminum, steel, and plastic playground, which was nearly complete. The playground, which is designed for children 2 to 5 years old, is handicapped accessible.

When the weather improves, the volunteers plan to erect a new playground to replace the one destroyed by fire.