Runners charged with arson
York High students also may be expelled
By Art Barnum
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 30, 2005
Two members of York High School's highly ranked varsity cross-country team face expulsion after being charged in the arson of a $1 million Elmhurst home and a school bus.
DuPage County Assistant State's Atty. Robert Berlin told a judge Wednesday that the varsity runners--Justin Jones and Brian Marchese, both 17--and a 15-year-old team member drove by a residential construction site at 845 S. Poplar Ave. on July 24, "saw it empty, parked a block away and went inside."
"They found a cardboard box filled with construction debris, and Jones set it on fire," Berlin said.
He said the boys left the scene, "and within minutes, considering the dry summer, the home was engulfed in flames.
"They decided to return to the scene, drove by, saw the fire and made a conscious decision not to alert fire or police and left," he said.
The same boys and a fourth York student, Daniel Kunesh, 17, were reportedly involved two nights later, Berlin said, in setting a fire that destroyed a school bus at Sandburg Middle School.
Berlin said Jones set the bus fire with gasoline he took from his home, with Marchese and the juvenile standing watch outside the bus and Kunesh driving a getaway car.
All four have been charged with residential arson and arson, three as adults and one as a juvenile.
Berlin detailed the alleged crime to Judge James Konetski, who ordered the 15-year-old be placed on electronic home monitoring.
Jones and Marchese were each released this week from the DuPage County Jail on $20,000 bond, and Kunesh was released on $15,000 bond. All three are to be arraigned Oct. 31. All four defendants are students at York High School in Elmhurst.
Brian Telander, attorney for the juvenile, said Wednesday that school officials will hold a hearing Monday, seeking to expel the four. He said his client is also a member of the school's cross-country team.
School officials have declined to comment on the athletic or academic standing of the four students.
Telander said, however, that parents of the teenagers are considering their education options.
Jones and Marchese are both seniors and are members of the varsity three-time defending state championship team.
School officials alerted police this month after rumors spread about the students' involvement.
The three charged as adults face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, if convicted. Two homes next to the destroyed home also sustained major damage, Berlin said.
York runners charged with arson, update
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Hope they can run faster than Bubba, their rapist roommate when they get to prison. How moronic must you be!!!
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How in the heck were they found out? I'm glad they got caught, but how could've anyone known that they did it? (Assuming they kept their mouths shut).
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oftenrunning52 wrote:
Hope they can run faster than Bubba, their rapist roommate when they get to prison.
A skinny XC runner in spandex shorts should hold up just fine in prison. -
ttc wrote:
(Assuming they kept their mouths shut).
obviously, they didn't... -
Does anyone still want to trot out the "runners are smarter" argument? Nice move idiots! This time next year you'll be in Joliet running from hardened criminals instead of the relative cushy existence of college XC runner.
(Pun intended) -
There are always outliers. I would still contend that in general runners are smarter/better behaved. However, I have been known to make generalizations...
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The only recent incident involving cross country notables was the Debole vandalism incident at Georgetown in 2004.
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Jesse Jackson wrote:
There are always outliers. I would still contend that in general runners are smarter/better behaved. However, I have been known to make generalizations...
I haven't heard of many teenagers, period, who've burnt down property at their prodigious rate. Your smarter/better behaved theory would be better hung on non athletes altogether. Pride comes before a fall. Better had they been ordinary, non pamperd students. Looks as if their success went to their collective heads in a bad way. -
5-4-3-2-1-Time for Greenliner to make an excuse for these little s***s.
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Jesse Jackson wrote:
There are always outliers. I would still contend that in general runners are smarter/better behaved. However, I have been known to make generalizations...
I used to think this. Then I found letsrun and discovered how wrong I can be. VERY VERY wrong. -
I think it's extremely sad that these young men, who were in a somewhat priviliged position, did something that will haunt them forever. And it's impossible at this juncture to know exactly what the story is, but it looks as if three of them were along for the ride--and for them it's sadder still.
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I have heard that if you are slim, have little body hair, and few scars that lifers will make you grow your hair long in prison and act like a woman every night.
These boys are f***ed!!
The sad thing is that insurance paid for the house and that uis a lot of money down the drain for so little entertainment. Hope it was worth it boys!! -
wait, what happened with debole?
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Justin Jones has already made a legal name change to Jericho. Brian Marchese will now be known as Jon Gill II.
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lol!!!
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I think its is all just a big F***ing joke to get the HS hopes up for state like they did last year saying that there top runner had a broke leg. its all abunch of bull sh** to me.
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Your kidding right? This has nothing to do with them winning state, they could lose 50 kids and still win state (overexageraged but you get my point). If this is true York is the master of manipulating the media because it has been on every news channel and newspaper in chicago. And last year their top runner did have a stress fracture and still came back to win the 1 and 2 mile at state.
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York isn't *that* dominant. I used to run against them in high school. Some years they could lose a bunch of kids and still do well in state. But there are lots of other schools in the Chicago burbs that are pretty hard core. It is amazing that every year you knew they'd be in competition for the title--that in itself is amazing, given how good the running is in Illinois.
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The people who posted these are stupid
