Youth admits to helping set fire at old school building

A 17-year-old boy admitted Thursday he helped set the old Aurora Academy building ablaze last month, causing a fire that left two firefighters injured.

Austin Bradshaw, of East Toledo, was found guilty of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony, in Lucas County Juvenile Court.

His co-defendant, Ethan Fankhauser, 18, of Oregon, is also charged with two counts of aggravated arson, a first and a second-degree felony, and one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony. His case is pending in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

The prosecutor’s office previously filed a discretionary bind-over motion for the Bradshaw youth to be tried as an adult. Through plea negotiations, the motion was dismissed as the youth agreed to a serious youthful offender specification.

A serious youthful offender or “blended” sentence combines a juvenile and adult sentence. The judge imposes the juvenile sentence — which for the Bradshaw youth could be up to age 21 — but if he is not successful in the juvenile portion of the sentence, the court can order the boy to serve the adult portion of the sentence — up to 11 years.

Lucas County Juvenile Court Judge Denise Navarre Cubbon will sentence the youth Sept. 25.

On Thursday, the Bradshaw youth told Judge Cubbon he and Fankhauser broke into the old school at 541 Utah St. to play basketball after midnight on July 10.

The youth said Fankhauser wanted to start a fire, and the Bradshaw youth assisted in arranging wood, paper, and other flammable materials for the blaze. He also testified he was under the influence of marijuana at the time.

The two teens then began stuffing the material in storage units and one of them set it ablaze with the Bradshaw youth’s lighter, he said.