Report: Woman laughed about church arson
Belle Glade house of worship suffered $250K in damage.
WEST PALM BEACH — A West Palm Beach woman is in the Palm Beach County Jail, accused of setting a church on fire in Belle Glade this summer, according to an arrest report.
A witness said that after Elana Keshet Forman, 23, set the fire, she “appeared amused by what happened, smirking and laughing about it, unremorsefully,” the report said.
Forman is facing charges of second-degree arson, burglary causing over $1,000 worth of damage, trespassing and criminal mischief. She was being held in jail Thursday on $3,000 bail.
The church, on the grounds of the former Glades Correctional Institution on Magnolia Avenue, sustained more than $25,000 in damages. The incident took place Aug. 8.
Forman and four acquaintances from a drug-treatment facility entered the former prison facility through a hole in the fence and began burning books inside the church because they thought it was “funny,” the report said.
Everyone left the church except for Forman, who allegedly remained behind for around 30 minutes burning more books. When Forman eventually exited the building, she joked to the others that “the building may or may not burn to the ground.”
Forman later told Palm Beach County sheriff’s fire investigators that she assumed the fire would burn itself out, and made no effort to extinguish it.
As the group of five left the area, they looked back and noticed smoke coming out of the building and fire showing through the windows.
The group left the area without calling the fire department because they were afraid of being implicated in the blaze, the report said.
Cameras installed on the property captured Forman and the others running away. The photo was released to news organizations and an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County identified a woman — not Forman — in the group.
Forman and the others confessed their roles to investigators, the report said.
The four people that accompanied Forman are named in the report, but The Post is not identifying them because authorities have not charged them.