A 52-year-old Captain Cook man has been charged with arson for a church fire last week in Captain Cook.
A 52-year-old Captain Cook man has been charged with arson for a church fire last week in Captain Cook.
At 2 p.m. Wednesday, Kona police detectives charged Richard Paul Read with one count of first degree arson.
At 6:10 a.m. Feb. 26, officers responded to a report of a fire at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Captain Cook. When they arrived, firefighters were on the scene and the north rear entrance was fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and determined that it was deliberately set. Damages, estimated at more than $80,000, were limited to the north side of the building.
Bail for Read was set at $15,000. He is being held at the Kona cellblock pending his initial court appearance scheduled for Thursday.