MEDIA RELEASE

Richard Paul Read

Detectives have charged a 52-year-old Captain Cook man with arson stemming from a suspicious fire reported on Thursday morning (February 26) in Captain Cook.

At 2:00 p.m. Wednesday (March 4) Detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section charged Richard Paul Read with one count of first degree arson and one count of first degree criminal property damage.

At 6:10 a.m. Thursday (February 26), Kona Patrol 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 March 5 Thursday.