Rejected teenage boys arrested in Gilbert barn fire after vengefully throwing a firework
A barn in Arizona burned to the ground after two teenage boys threw fireworks into the barn as revenge for being rejected by the owner’s daughter.
Horrifying video footage shows the moment Gilbert Barn is engulfed in a blaze as about 10 children celebrate inside. No injuries have been reported.
The fire started when two boys allegedly harassed victim Lexi Jones and sent her a Snapchat message after the attack in which they gave her the middle finger.
Mother Jeni Jones, who owns the barn, told Fox10: ‘It’s such a traumatic thing when it happens. I called 911 to get everyone out of here.’
“We saved two of the vehicles that we were able to move that were here. But you know, you see that everything else is a total loss.”
Gilbert Police Department officers and firefighters responded to a 911 call from a neighborhood near Higley and Guadalupe Roads on July 3
She later told authorities that Lexi and her friend Naia Morris were in the shed when Ring surveillance footage showed a group of boys throwing fireworks from the driveway.
While the first firework alerted everyone, it was the second firework that caused the fire.
Morris said, “It almost looked like someone was pushing on the garage, but it looked like there was a bright light coming from underneath, pushing out and creating a bunch of flames at the top, on the right hand corner of the shed, and then it started spreading everywhere.”
“It was like the garage door just went like that and you could hear it building. You could hear it popping and everything went up in flames,” Lexi added.
While the first firework alerted everyone in the barn, it was the second one that caused the fire
The teens have since been arrested and charged with arson and endangerment. Officials have not named the boys, calling them only “juveniles.”
Lexi was hanging out with her friends on the second floor of the building when the incident occurred, according to ABC15.
She went on to tell the network that the boys were friends with Lexi and spent time with the family on boat trips and in the garage.
According to the mother, one of the teenage boys had been harassing Lexi and saying inappropriate things.
Jeni said: ‘I told her, just block him, have nothing to do with him. And then this happened.
“What’s most disturbing is just the malicious intent. Like they knowingly set off fireworks at a building that had children in it.
“Honestly, I can’t even process it. I just can’t think about it because it makes me sick.”
Lexi Jones (right) and her friend, Naia Morris (left) were in the shed when Ring camera footage showed a group of boys throwing fireworks from the access road
After the shed was set on fire, one of the boys sent her daughter a Snapchat message giving her the middle finger, Jones said.
Gilbert Police Department officers and firefighters responded to a 911 call from a neighborhood near Higley Road and Guadalupe Road.
The teens have since been arrested and charged with arson and endangerment. Officials have not named the boys, referring to them only as “juveniles.”
The Jones family has also set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise money to repair the damage and recover from the devastating loss.
The crowdfunding page has raised $1,000 of its $15,000 goal so far.