Trail of graffiti led investigators to burned barn

Three teen boys charged with setting the fire that burned down a Lewes barn left a trail of graffiti and social media links that investigators used to track them down.

The teens face third-degree arson, second-degree conspiracy, criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trespass charges in connection with a Feb. 6 fire that destroyed the landmark barn once owned by fishing magnates Otis and Hazell Smith, who ran the largest menhaden fishing operation in the country throughout the 1960s.

Weeks before the fire, officers with the Delaware River and Bay Authority opened an investigation into graffiti spray-painted on the underside of the Freeman Highway Bridge. On Jan. 17 and 31, court records state, obscene wording, pictures, symbols and other words were spray-painted on the concrete and steel bridge supports.

James Salmon, spokesman for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, said the graffiti caused about $3,000 in damage and was removed the next day. When the weather warms, he said, the area under the bridge will be powerwashed. Some obscene words have been covered up, but almost immediately new tags, such as a version of EAV, possibly a reference to a surfing brand, have cropped up. Salmon said they know of three new spray-painting incidents in the area.

During the course of the Delaware River and Bay Authority investigation, a detective with the Delaware State Fire Marshal's Office called the authority with questions about graffiti. The detective said the side of the barn had also been spray-painted before it burned down.

The agencies exchanged photos of the graffiti and investigators quickly discovered similarities in graffiti sprayed underneath the Freeman Highway Bridge, at the barn that burned and at a vacant barn near the site of the new Lewes Public Library.

Through photos posted on social media, the fire marshal detective learned three teens got spray paint from the abandoned barn near the library location. Court records state the detective “obtained pictures from a social media page that showed the suspects and cans of spray paint on a table inside of the abandoned house.”

Photos linked the teens to the spray painting at the barn near the library and under the bridge.

Through the course of the investigation, the detective developed three suspects: a 15-year-old from Ocean Pines, a 16-year-old from Rehoboth Beach and a 14-year-old from Lewes. All three attended St. Thomas More Academy in Magnolia, and they frequently hung out in the Lewes area where they long boarded – skate boarding using a longer board.

St. Thomas More Principal Julie Shively could not be reached for comment on the boys' school status because she was observing classrooms.

On Feb. 12, a detective interviewed all three boys. According to court records, all three admitted to putting graffiti on the building next to the library and also at the Freeman Bridge. All of them, however, denied using any vulgar language, court records state.

Court records also state the Ocean Pines boy called police and told the detective that all three teens were in the barn two weeks before it burned when he spray painted the side of the barn with names of two girls and a reference to a sexual act. He told the detective he also spray painted male genitals on the wall, court records state.

Fire destroys barn

Court records give the following account on the night of the fire:

The boys were long boarding in Lewes when they decided to go to the barn. A GPS locator on the Rehoboth boy's cellphone placed him at the barn from 7:48 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The Rehoboth boy brought sparklers and a boat flare. The boat flare was the Ocean View boy's leftover from a previous visit, he said.

The Lewes boy said all three boys had sparklers in the barn loft, which was full of hay. He said when his sparklers went out he “just dropped them and went downstairs.”

According to the Rehoboth boy, “a small fire did occur in the hay from [the Ocean View boy's] igniting the flare.” The Rehoboth boy said he put the fire out “to the best of his knowledge” and picked up the sparklers he saw. He brought the sparklers downstairs, put them in dirt and poured soda on them. He said he did not know what happened to the flare.

Fire called in at 10:46 p.m.

Sussex County Emergency Operations logged the first call for the burning barn at 10:46 p.m. from a resident in Breakwater Estates, a neighborhood across a field from the barn. Minutes later, firefighters from Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Milton, Indian River and Slaughter Beach arrived at the fully involved fire. Flames were pouring out of the 50-by-100-foot barn when firefighters arrived, said Harry Miller, chief deputy state fire marshal.

Miller said officials ruled out accidental causes because there is no electric or heat to the barn and ruled the fire arson. A tractor was stored at the site, but it was located away from the heavy burning area, he said. No matches or accelerants were found because the barn was allowed to burn out, he said.

The fire caused an estimated $150,000 in damage, totally destroying the barn, Miller said. With cedar beams curved to meet at the roof's peak, somewhat like an upside-down ark, owners Bill and Bryce Lingo say the cost to replicate the lost barn is much higher than $150,000.

“According to insurance adjusters and investigators, they said you can't afford to build this today,” Bryce said in an earlier interview.

In the 1950s, the Smiths built the barn and its twin on their horse and cattle estate that covered both sides of Gills Neck Road. Their Georgian home still sits off Gills Neck Road along the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. Across the road were pastures, and a training and breeding facility for the couple's Standardbred race horses. They also raised prized polled Hereford cattle with a bull – Battle Mixer – that was brought to the area with official fanfare.

Both barns were going to be used as community centers for Showfield Properties, a development planned on the former farmland.

Teens charged

On Feb. 25, all three boys were arraigned at Sussex County Family Court on charges connected to graffiti underneath the Freeman Highway Bridge and the burned barn.

For the graffiti, the boys were charged with misdemeanor charges of graffiti, third-degree conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespass. The boys were released on $750 unsecured bond to the custody of their parents.

In connection with the burned barn, the boys were charged with felony third-degree arson, felony second-degree conspiracy – class G felonies that are the lowest class of felony – misdemeanor criminal mischief over $1,000 and misdemeanor second-degree criminal trespass. They were released to the custody of their parents on $2,500 unsecured bond.

Class G felonies are punishable by up to two years' imprisonment; misdemeanor penalties are between 30 days and one year in jail with fines up to $2,300.

As of the Cape Gazette's deadline, the Lewes boy has a trial scheduled April 6 for his graffiti charges and an April 28 trial for the burned barn charges. The Rehoboth boy has an April 28 trial for the graffiti and a May 18 trial for the burned barn. The Ocean PInes boy has case reviews scheduled April 15 for both graffiti and burned barn incidents.