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Non-Student Arrested For

Starting SUNY Campus Fires

Looking is New York State campus police officer, Mariah Naughton with Mike Mancini and Don Toubia of hte Oneonta Fire Department. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Don Tubia, left, of the Oneonta Fire Department, photographs one of three locations where fires were set on the SUNY campus last night; two near the track, one in the campus quad. With him are NYS Campus Police officer Maria Naughton, middle, and fellow firefighter Mike Mancini, right. A third location (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)

ONEONTA — A 20-year-old was arrested and charged with arson after allegedly setting fire overnight to light poles and shrubbery on the SUNY Oneonta campus with a blow torch.  He is not a student, University Police said.

Zachary A. Penzabene of Ravena, south of Albany, was arrested after University Police responded to a report and found several fires, one on the quad and others near the track, and contacted the Oneonta Fire Department to extinguish them.

According to University police, Penzabene, a 2013 Ravena Central School graduate who has been attending SUNY Brockport, where he ran cross-country, fled and was apprehended by University police on campus. 

No one was hurt. Both light poles were scorched by the fires, and the college is still assessing the extent of the resulting electrical damage.

Penzabene was charged with three counts of arson in the fifth degree, and criminal mischief in the second degree. Charges are pending in both the City of Oneonta Court and the Town of Oneonta Court, because part of the affected area is located within the town and part is located within the city.

The arrest is the result of a cooperative effort involving the University Police, Oneonta city police , and the OFD arson investigation team.

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Don Toubia of the Oneonta Fire Department inspecting the damage. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
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Mariah Naughton of campus police and Mike Mancini of the Oneonta Fire Department reviewing the extent of the fire damage.

 

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