Stratford Man, 20, Sentenced For Burning Down Shakespeare Theater

STRATFORD, CT — A Stratford man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for burning down the American Shakespeare Theatre and setting four other fires, according to the Connecticut Post.

The Post reports Christopher Sakowicz, 20, was also placed on 15 years special parole and ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment in addition to the prison term.

Sakowicz pleaded guilty in June and also accepted responsibility for fires Jan. 15, 2019, at the Southbury Training School, Feb. 17, 2019, at the old Bilco Co. in West Haven, March 9, 2019, at Good Earth Tree Care in Stratford and March 24, 2019, at Silver Sands State Park in Milford.

Prosecutors dropped the charge from a Feb. 8, 2019 fire in a vacant West Haven home in consideration of Sakowicz pleading guilty to the other five fires, the Post previously reported.

Sakowicz, Vincent Keller and Logan Caraballo were each charged in connection with the Jan. 13 blaze that destroyed the Shakespeare Theatre. They were all under 18 at the time of the fire, but were charged as adults.

Stratford's iconic Shakespeare theater, which opened in 1955 and had been visited by famous actors and actresses including Katharine Hepburn, largely stopped showing plays in the 1980s. There has been talk for decades about how to revitalize the historic property.

After the fire at the theater, the trio admitted on Snapchat to starting the blaze in a video circulated at Bunnell High School, which Sakowicz and Keller attended at the time, the Post previously reported.

Keller and Carabello are awaiting trial.

Read more from Friday’s sentencing at the Connecticut Post here.