Monday, May 21, 2012

Borough man faces arson, other charges

Elizabethtown police charged a borough man with arson and other counts after he allegedly started a fire that destroyed a shed behind Christ Church United Church of Christ, 247 S. Market St., on May 11.

Cory Nauman, 23, was charged  with arson, a second degree felony, for starting the fire that caused $20,000 in damage and burned the shed to the ground. (Full disclosure: I am a member of Christ Church UCC.) He also was charged with burglary, which is a second degree felony; risking a catastrophe, which is a third degree felony; and two counts of criminal mischief. 

The latter charges are related to other events during the early morning hours of May 11 after police were dispatched to a domestic situation in the 100 block of East High Street. Upon arriving at the scene, officers learned that a male involved in the domestic had left the area.

While searching the area for the male, police discovered the fire in the unoccupied storage building to the rear of the church. Police immediately contacted dispatchers and requested the response of the fire department.  
 
At approximately 5:15 a.m., police found the male, identified as Nauman,  walking on South Cherry Alley in the immediate area of the fire. Officers determined that Nauman was intoxicated and took him into custody for public drunkenness. He was transported to the police station and later to the hospital as a precautionary measure. As the arson investigation continued, police discovered that Nauman was allegedly responsible for setting the fire to the storage building.

In addition, police found that Nauman had gone to the police station and attempted to throw a brick through a window of one of the police vehicles. Police said he is also accused of breaking a window of a house and a vehicle in the 100 block of East High Street and of breaking two windows of a business in the 900 block of South Market Street. 

On May 11, Nauman was charged by Detective Clair Martin and arraigned before District Justice Jayne Duncan. Nauman was committed to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $2,500 bail.

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