After the embarrassing arrest of a soldier for an April Fools joke, the police are sure that this time they have got the right guys in Holon's arson cases. On Wednesday police arrested three boys of 14, 15 and 17 years of age, on suspicion that they are behind a series of stairwell fires .
The three suspects were brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court to decide on extending their remand. At the same time, the police asked for an extension to the remand of an 18-year-old, also from Holon, suspected of setting alight a garbage bin and sofa on Massada Street.
The mother of one of the youths suspected in the stairwell fires said to Ynet, "My son is not connected to this case. These things were clearly done by someone insane. During those hours, my son was with his father in the store he owns in Tel Aviv, and we have even given the police the security camera recording to prove it."
Last Wednesday night, trash bins were set alight and pushed into residential buildings, causing dozens of residents to be evacuated.
Firefighters rushed from one blaze to another. The fire on Hankin Street was the most serious. Four families on the first floor lost power when their electricity panel was completely destroyed by the flames. Plaster fell from the walls, and smoke damage was caused all the way up to the top floors. Damage in the buildings has been estimated at tens of thousands of shekels.