January 29, 2002
Final two suspects in Kirby fire arrested
By Ryan Good
Staff Writer
rgood@advertiser-tribune.com
Two more local men have been arrested on the other side of the nation in connection with the Aug. 21, 1999, fire at the Kirby Tire Recycling facility near Sycamore.
Brent A. Young, 22, 7690 Kennedy Road, Bloomville, and Michael P. Schindewolf, 22, Bucyrus, the last of four people indicted, were arrested Friday in Phoenix, Ariz., according to a statement from Wyandot County Sheriff Michael R. Hetzel.
They were indicted by a Wyandot County Grand Jury in October 2001 with aggravated arson, arson, breaking and entering and tampering with evidence.
"They've waived extradition and we'll have them back here in about 30 days," Hetzel said Monday.
Investigators believed that the two were not in the area and a federal warrant was obtained for their arrest. They were located Thursday in Phoenix in an apartment they shared, the release states.
Contact was then made with the Fugitive Task Force in Phoenix and copies of the warrants and other information was faxed there.
The task force took the two into custody early Friday morning. They are being held in the Maricopa County Jail in Arizona, the release states.
For the most part, the investigation into the fire that did an estimated $10 million dollars in damage is over, Hetzel said. But "... there's always things to work on," he added.
Two other defendants, Scott W. Harer, 22, Kennedy Road, Bloomville, and Kenneth Stacklin, 22, Bucyrus, were arrested in October for the fire and face the same four charges as Young and Schindewolf.
Stacklin and Harer are both out of jail on bond and awaiting further court proceedings.
Hetzel said he had been confident throughout the investigation that all four suspects would be apprehended.
"It just took awhile to get them," Hetzel said.
According to the statement, there is no connection between the four suspects and anyone connected with the tire facility.
Nineteen fire departments and the Air National Guard from Mansfield spent four days fighting the fire. An estimated five to seven million tires burned.
Hetzel said previously that the fire was started by an accelerant.