Society

Eight-year-old arsonist caught in south-western Poland

Illustrative photo by Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
Illustrative photo by Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
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Police have identified an eight-year-old boy as the perpetrator of several cases of arson in Jelcz-Laskowice, a town in south-western Poland.

He set fire to a tricycle, a baby carriage, and a dumpster, taking inspiration from videos he had watched online.

The first report of a fire was received by the emergency services last Wednesday. There was considerable smoke in one of the stairwells of a residential block as a tricycle burned in the basement.

“Several minutes later, after the basement operations were over, police officers were called to a nearby street, where a pram had been set on fire in the stairwell,” Wioletta Polerowicz of the Olawa police force said.

Another incident occurred the following day. At around 2:30 p.m., the services were called to a fire in a dumpster. The police had no doubt that all of the incidents involved intentional arson.
“Preliminary findings indicate that an eight-year-old resident of Jelcz-Laskowice had been watching videos posted on one of the social networks before the incidents. Curious about the whole situation, he decided to check how it looks in real life,” Wioletta Polerowicz said.

No injuries were inflicted nor evacuation necessary, but the eight-year-old caused property damage. His case will now be handled by the family court. The police have appealed to parents and guardians to control the content viewed by children on the Internet.

A similar incident occurred in early May in Wrocław, south-western Poland. An eight-year-old boy broke into a neighbor's apartment and robbed it. It turned out that the child had also been inspired by videos he had viewed online.
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