Judge sets bail for teen charged in car fires

PORTLAND – A judge has set bail for a 19-year-old student charged in connection with a string of car fires in a 10-block area of Portland.

On Monday, Justice Robert Crowley ordered Thomas Cassidy held on bail of $50,000 cash or $100,000 property. Defense lawyer Joel Vincent says Cassidy lives with his mother and is a former student at Portland High School.

As it stands, Cassidy is charged with arson, breaking into a motor vehicle, and carrying a concealed weapon in connection with one of the fires. But police believe he’s responsible for at least 10 fires, including three fires that spread to nearby apartment houses.

Police say that when Cassidy was detained he had an iPod allegedly taken from one of the cars, along with several lighters, brass knuckles, a flask and a marijuana pipe.