ARSON CASE Struthers man pleads innocent
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 19-year-old Struthers man, secretly indicted last week in an August fire at a West Side business, pleaded innocent to multiple charges at his arraignment Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Maureen A. Cronin set bond at $250,000 for Mathew Pupio of Charles Street, who was being held in the county jail. Authorities estimated loss from the Aug. 15 fire to be more than $300,000.
Authorities say the fire was started in a large trash bin behind 904 Tod Ave., which houses Super Stitches and Quality Seating, then spread to the building itself.
Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko said one of the aggravated arson counts is for the building's being set on fire. It's a second-degree felony for which Pupio could be sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison if he is convicted.
The other two counts, first-degree felonies, are for injuries sustained by two firemen -- Capt. Ron Russo and firefighter Kevin Johnson -- when they were struck in the back by a falling beam in the burning building, Macejko said. Those counts each carry a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
A press conference about the case was to be held today at Fire Station No. 1 downtown.
Capt. Alvin Ware, head of the arson bureau, said an 11-year-old Struthers boy is also charged with the crime. He said the boy has been at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center in an unrelated case of car and vending machine break-ins in Struthers that involved Pupio.
Ware said Struthers Detective Mike Faith, who investigated the break-ins allegedly committed by Pupio and the boy, supplied tips that led to the arson charges.