The teenager is accused of causing a massive wildfire that is burning in Ocean County, New Jersey.
Joseph Kling, 19, of Ocean Township (Watertown), has been arrested and charged with aggravated arson and arson, officials announced Thursday, April 24th.
“I’m sure he purposely set the fire,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Bircher said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Bilhimer said he did not disclose how authorities determined Kling was a suspect in the case, but he is confident that the prosecutors have been appointed as the right person who allegedly ignited the destructive wildfire.
“We used some research techniques that we didn’t necessarily want to disclose at this point,” Bilhimer said. “But some technological advancements can be publicly said that we were able to put him on the ground.”
On April 22, around 9:45am, authorities discovered smoke in the Jones and Bryant Road area of Ocean Township. Responding paramedics then discovered the fire in the Fork River Mountains Wilderness area of Ocean County Natural Lands Trust, on the east side of Jones Road.
Over three days, the fire burned about 15,000 acres in Ocean County, destroying businesses, closing roads, and at one point forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. As of Thursday, 50% was included. Officials say it could become New Jersey’s biggest wildfire in the last 20 years.
Investigators believe the fire was caused by an improperly extinguished bonfire.
Officials say a teenager, later identified as Kling, burned a wooden pallet and left the area without the fire completely disappearing.
Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township Police Headquarters. He was then taken to the Ocean County Jail, where he remains in custody, waiting for a detention hearing.
The New Jersey public defense attorney’s office issued the statement when asked about Kling’s case. “The New Jersey office of public defense cannot comment on pending cases at this early stage of the legal process, except that it reminds us that an individual is presumed to be innocent until it is proven otherwise in court.”
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