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By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, January 17, 1997 Page: 3A
WILKES-BARRE — A 15-year-old boy charged with last week’s arson fire at
Dallas Senior High School will remain in the Luzerne County Juvenile Detention
Center until the case is heard.
Judge Mark Ciavarella cited the seriousness of the charges in refusing to
release Brad Miller into the custody of his parents following a detention
hearing Thursday in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Orphan’s Court.
Miller and another student, Jamie Houseknecht, 17, are charged with three
counts of arson and related offenses for the Jan. 10 fire in a restroom at the
high school in Dallas Township.
Miller’s brother, Michael, 18, is charged with conspiracy to commit arson.
Police say the three planned the fire for a week, and that Brad Miller and
Houseknecht carried out the plan.
All three students might also face expulsion from school, High School
Principal Frank Galicki said Thursday.
Galicki said the three are now on a 10-day suspension. School officials are
considering expelling them, pending the resolution of the criminal charges, he
said.
In an interview after the hearing, the Miller boys’ father, Robert, blasted
the judge’s decision to hold Brad, saying officials are overreacting.
“He was not responsible for the fire. He was part of the discussion, but he
wasn’t responsible for it,” Robert Miller said.
Police say Houseknecht and the Millers initially planned to set fire to the
school auditorium, and Houseknecht intended for the blaze to kill the school’s
principal and vice principal.
The fire in the auditorium never happened. Instead, police say, Houseknecht
set fire to a roll of toilet paper in a boy’s lavatory as Brad Miller watched.
Under law, Brad Miller is as responsible as Houseknecht because he was
present at the scene, Dallas Township Police Chief Carl Miers has said.
But Robert Miller said Brad was just a bystander and didn’t understand he
was committing a crime just by discussing the fire.
“A 15-year-old doesn’t know he’s in conspiracy just because he talked about
it,” Miller said.
The father said Brad is not a danger to anyone, and the boy’s needs would
be best met at home.
Dallas Township police officer Jeff Dennis agreed that Miller poses no
threat to the public. He said he believes Miller should remain in custody,
however, because it will allow him to get professional attention.
“By detaining him, they can evaluate him and talk to him, see why he made
this poor decision,” Dennis said.
Michael Miller was charged as an adult and is free on $5,000 bail.
Houseknecht is undergoing a psychological evaluation and will not face a
detention hearing until that is completed, Dennis said.