Three teenagers who sparked a spectacular fire that gutted the historic General Western Cotton Mill in Douglasville were sentenced to a probation detention center and community service, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
DA spokesman Andrew Agan said Adrian Bond, 19, Terry Carringer, 19, and Jeromie Hand, 18, were sentenced to 60 to 120 days after pleading guilty to burglary and second-degree arson. They have been jailed since their arrest in May.
“In this case, those young men have spent many months in jail, hopefully recognizing that this stupid, senseless act was dangerous not only to themselves but to others and that they are lucky no one actually got hurt,” Douglas County District Attorney David McDade said in a statement.
The May 12 early morning fire on East Broad Street could be seen for several miles. Firefighters decided to let the structure burn itself out.
At one point, the 7-acre cotton mill site had been marketed by Bull Reality for potential retail and residential loft development. The site included the 108,000-square-foot main cotton mill building built in the late 1800s and two smaller structures.
Assistant District Attorney Bonnie Smith said Douglasville officials decided not to seek restitution because the abandoned century-old building probably would have had to have been torn down at some point at considerable cost.
After they are released, Bond, Carringer and Hand must perform 100 hours of community service, submit to drug and psychological evaluations, attend counseling sessions and have no contact with each other. They will be on probation for seven years after their release.
“Hopefully as they continue to serve their sentences, they will learn to make better choices in the future,” McDade said.
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