The Sierra Vista Police Department arrested a 15-year-old boy and charged him with five felonies after he allegedly set fire to his caregivers’ home while they were sleeping on Sunday morning.
The police received a 911 call at about 7:23 a.m. on Sunday reporting a possible arson in the 1800 block of Elmwood Lane in Sierra Vista. The homeowners reported that they were awoken by a smoke detector alarm and found three separate fires were burning in the residence. They also said the child they were caring for, 15-year-old Hayden Beaulieu, was missing.
The homeowners extinguished the fires before they could cause extensive damage. Two of the fires had been set inside Beaulieu’s bedroom, while a third was contained to the laundry room. Officers responding to the call located Beaulieu a few blocks away from the house. The homeowners said Beaulieu was placed in their house in September and they were in the process of becoming his foster parents.
The investigation determined that Beaulieu set the fires and left the house without waking the homeowners, which is considered an extreme indifference to human life. He was charged with two counts of attempted second degree murder, two counts of attempted manslaughter, and one count of arson. Beaulieu was initially charged as a juvenile but, upon review of the case, the Cochise County Attorney’s Office advised the Sierra Vista Police Department to charge him as an adult.