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Letter to the editor

Three face felony charge in Stanberry House fire

By CARRIE RITCHIE
Published June 8, 2007

DADE CITY - A third Dade City teen has been arrested and accused of setting fire to the historic Stanberry House.

The three were charged with first-degree arson, a felony,

The boys - two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old - admitted breaking into the vacant home through a boarded up window, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. They said they set fire to a book, some articles of clothing and drapes so they could see.

But they didn't put out the fires before they left, and the 5, 200-square-foot home burned down May 23. The blaze was so intense that it spread to an adjacent two-story garage apartment.

Both structures were destroyed.

Don Campbell, the Fire Department investigator on the case, said the teens were part of a group of seven to 10 Pasco High School students who decided to skip classes the last day of school.

They went to the house at about 1:30 p.m. and pulled plywood off to enter through a window. They told police they thought they had thoroughly extinguished the fires before they left.

By 4 p.m., about 38 firefighters had arrived to put out the fire. It took them more than an hour.

Though the teens might not have intended to burn down the house, they must be charged with first-degree arson because they set the fires while they were committing a felony - burglary, Campbell said.

Campbell said he's confident that the three arrested were the ones who lit the fires. He got an anonymous tip from someone in the neighborhood who knew one of the boys' names.

That person signed a statement and might get a reward of up to $2, 500.

The boys were cooperative, he said, and only one showed up with a lawyer. He said he didn't think they had had any brushes with the law in the past, though one might have immigration problems after the arrest.

"They're not real thugs or anything, " Campbell said. "They were just killing time."

The house was a historic landmark for years. It was built in 1889 by Dale Mabry's father, Lt. Gov. Milton H. Mabry. It was a hub for Republicans, even in recent years. Former Gov. Jeb Bush attended parties there in 1994 and 2000.

Blanton Creek Development Corp., headed by Rob Burkett of Orlando, bought the house and the 48 adjacent acres in 2003. Burkett told the Times he wants to build 150 to 200 homes on the property and planned to save the original home, but it proved too costly and he had decided to tear it down.

Lowell B. Stanberry, the home's namesake, died in September.

Times staff writer Thomas Lake contributed to this report. Carrie Ritchie can be reached at critchie@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 7, 2007, 22:44:11]