Trout Brook cabin fire teens are convicted

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Two Hudson teenagers who caused extensive fire damage to a Trout Brook Road home last spring have been convicted and sentenced in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

Charles M. Burns, 18, 895 Trout Brook Road, and Thomas C. Quasius, 17, 966 Priester Lane, were each convicted of theft and trespassing last week.

Burns and Quasius were each sentenced to 100 hours of community service, two years’ probation, fined $570 and ordered to pay $3,023.77 at the Aug. 7 hearing.

Felony charges for both were read into the record and dismissed, and jail sentences were imposed and stayed.

The criminal complaint said that on March 13, Burns and Quasius broke into a cabin at 977 Trout Brook Road, found fireworks and ignited them inside the house, which caused a fire that destroyed the building.

The cabin was located in a heavily wooded area on the south bank of the Willow River in the town of Hudson.

The initial sheriff’s report said other teens involved in the incident were juveniles.

The homeowner, Nancy Miller, of Minneapolis gave investigators an insurance statement that listed replacement costs to the building at $53,200.

Quasius was also convicted on a misdemeanor charge in connection with the theft of bicycles June 23 out of a garage in the town of Hudson.

Tags: crime and courts, news, fires