Danbury Teen Charged with Arson

CONCORD, NH - Investigators have arrested a teen on arson charges for allegedly setting a fire last night at the New Hampshire Department of Transportation shed on Stickney Avenue, according to the state fire marshal.

Steven Rowell, 18, of Route 4 in Danbury, was arrested on March 13, 2016, on two felony counts of arson, felony falsifying physical evidence, and two counts of breach of bail.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Fire Safety, and the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

Concord Fire and Rescue teams were called to the building, which was previously used as a supply shed, at just after 10:15 p.m. last night. The fire had extended from outside into the building and eves, according to investigators. A second fire – a small brush fire – was also found burning by the Holiday Inn, according to officials.

“The ensuing investigation determined intentionally set fires at both locations,” according to a press statement from Adam Fanjoy and Thomas Riley of the fire marshal’s office.

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The fire caused damage to the exterior of the NH DOT building but minimal damage to the interior, according to officials.

While investigating the incident, Rowell was allegedly determined to have set the fires and was arrested. He is currently being held at the Merrimack County Jail. Rowell will be arraigned later today.

No one was injured in the fire, according to officials.

Rowell has a history of recent arrests around the city dating back about two years.

In July 2014, when he was 17, he was arrested for illegally having cigarettes after he allegedly entered the South Street Market wearing a mask.

In December 2015, he was charged with unlawful possession of alcohol and was allegedly intoxicated outside of the Cumberland Farms on North Main Street.

In January, he was arrested on a bench warrant outside of the Concord Public library, where he was allegedly making inappropriate comments to women as they entered the library but told police that he was rapping. The warrant was out of Plymouth District Court.

Later that month, he was arrested again for criminal trespass after allegedly refusing to leave the Speedway gas station on North Main Street, swearing, and pretending to be an urban gangster, according to a police report.

He was arrested for default of bail by New Hampshire State Police in February on a warrant out of Milford for harassment.