By BEN LUNDIN

Staff Reporter

RESERVE – A 17-year-old Reserve boy who allegedly set a portable classroom ablaze in 2005 was arrested Thursday for simple arson by the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

The St. Charles Fire Department and St. Charles Sheriff’s Office conducted an intensive 14-month-long investigation, following suspicion that foul play created the charred remains of a New Sarpy Elementary School classroom, which culminated in the arrest of the St. John Parish youth.

On the night of Nov. 19, 2005, the suspect, a 16-year-old juvenile at the time, trespassed onto school grounds and removed several light fixtures to conceal himself in darkness, then entered the portable classroom and used an unknown device to start a fire that quickly erupted into a blaze, according to Sgt. Dwayne LeGrange of the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office.

The St. Charles Fire Department called in the Louisiana Fire Marshal to investigate, and with the assistance of Sgt. Roanne Sampson of the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office, authorities followed leads that led to the suspect’s eventual arrest, according to Sgt. LeGrange.