ORONO, Maine — A University of Maine student was arrested on a felony arson charge after torching a trash receptacle by his dormitory early Monday, UMaine spokeswoman Margaret Nagle said.
“He intentionally set fire to the Dumpster outside of Oxford [Hall],” she said, referring to Nicholas Decourcey, 18, who is from Massachusetts and resides in Oxford Hall.
The blaze was reported at about 1:50 a.m. After firefighters extinguished the flames, they were able to link the fire to Decourcey, Nagle said.
Decourcey was charged with Class A arson, which carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, and was taken to the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. He was released on bail Monday afternoon, a jail official said.
Bet he didn’t think he was going to catch a felony charge. If it stands he just screwed up his life big time.
The one thing I’ve noticed about youth today is that they don’t seem to understand the fact that not every impulsive thought needs to be acted upon. I’d suggest that he should have thought twice before striking a flame, but in this case I’m not sure he was capable of thinking once.
They do not think that there might actually be a consequence (that mommy or daddy won’t get them out of) for their actions. Parents call/whine/harass schools to get what they want (grades changed, let Johnny make up his 10 missing assignments, etc). I bet this is not the first thing this kid has done wrong.
While I agree it was stupid….he’s looking at 30 years and molesters pretty much get to walk? Interesting…
I highly doubt he will get 30 years.
I feel bad for the kid. First year away from home, finals coming right up. He was probably under a lot of stress and having some trouble. No doubt it was a huge mistake. Hopefully the system won’t fail him and give him the help he needs, and not just throw him in jail for 30 years.
Why do we feel bad for the kid? Gee, I had plenty of finals, and I don’t recall ever, I dunno, setting something on fire.
I feel bad for him because I have something called empathy. It’s a feeling that some people have towards other people or all people. That’s the general reason, the specific reason is that this young man may have made a very poor decision in his very young life that will make it incredibly difficult for him in the future. That is why.
We all handle stress differently and have different expectations put on us by ourselves and/or family.