A Stuyvesant junior was arrested on Thursday, November 19 for allegedly setting two fires on Tuesday, November 17 that resulted in an evacuation of the school. He was charged with second-degree attempted arson, fifth-degree arson and reckless endangerment, according to the article “Student Charged in Fire at Stuyvesant High,” published on The New York Times Web site on Friday, November 20.

He was not charged in connection with any of the other fires, although investigations are still continuing.

Fire marshals identified him “through the use of video surveillance and interviewing eyewitnesses,” James Long, a Fire Department spokesman, said in The New York Times article.

Video cameras near the bathrooms show the junior entering each bathroom where a fire broke out and exiting a couple of minutes later, shortly before the fires broke out, according to The New York Daily News article “Stuyvesant Student Charged with Starting Two Fires in School Caught on Video, Bragged To Friends” and The New York Post article “Elite School ‘Firebug’ Bust,” both published on Saturday, November 21.

Principal Stanley Teitel declined to comment.

Video from the surveillance cameras shows that the junior entered a seventh-floor bathroom at 1:13 p.m., left two minutes later, entered a different bathroom at 1:16 p.m., and left soon after. A witness also allegedly saw the junior quickly leaving the seventh-floor bathroom before the fire broke out, according to The Daily News article.

The junior, whose name was released in The Daily News and The Post, faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted on the felony charge. He was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court and freed on 2,500 dollar bail on Friday, and is being charged as an adult.

“This is a false accusation,” the junior’s father said in the Daily News article. “My boy doesn’t know anything about any fires and they don’t have any concrete evidence. My son is a good boy.”

“I’m innocent,” the junior said in an e-mail interview. “I have no idea who the real arsonist(s) are/is, but I’m sure they/he will be caught soon. Also, these fires have been ongoing, even without me present at school.”

The fact that the fires have continued after his arrest—including one that reportedly broke out while the junior was in Principal Stanley Teitel’s office—have caused some students to question his guilt, although there was speculation that other students have been setting copycat fires in an attempt to cast doubt on his guilt.

“Maybe it’s not him setting fires now, but I think it has something to do with his friends covering up for him,” junior Arik Raviv said. “I think there’s a lot of juniors that are in a movement to free him, or whatever, and all it’s doing is bringing bad publicity to the school and it gives us juniors a bad name.”

Some students agreed that the junior’s actions did not fit his general character.

“I know him to be sort of a naive kid, intelligent, religious, and not the type who really messes around with fire (to be honest he seems like he’d freak out at the risk of a big fire). He’s a really funny kid, he has a good sense of humor, [but] not the kind of humor that he might think it’s funny to burn down the school,” junior Huma Sayiida wrote in an e-mail interview.

“I have two friends, Stephen Soubbotin and Brian Yan, that can be alibi for him on [...] the [...] day he was accused of the fire. Brian and Stephen said that [the junior] was with them during the occurrence of the fire,” junior Boris Wang wrote in an e-mail interview. “Finally, because I’ve known him for long enough I would know that he’s not the type of person to do that. Yes, he did brag to people about how he set the fires. But sometimes people sarcastically joke around like that. He’s just really unlucky to be arrested based on some blurry video tape, unlucky situations, and few silly jokes.”

“I’m really glad that a lot of the junior student body is supporting me, they all know that it’s unlike me to do what the school is accusing me of,” the junior said in response to the support from his peers.

In response to the way that the situation was handled, senior Lily Ostrer said, “I think that it’s really unfortunate that it’s been publicized in the way that it has, and I think it’s been pretty mishandled. He’s being portrayed in this school as the sole perpetrator, and it’s really sad that this is probably going to dictate a lot of the rest of his life, and I think that it’s sad that it’s falling on the hands of one student.”

“This was always a way to maybe to skip a test, but basically you’re sacrificing a test that maybe you didn’t study for—you’re actually putting the lives of people in danger,” junior Daniel Afonin said.