At 3:52 AM on Monday, April 5th, the Clayton Fire Department was summoned to 55 Hawkesburg Drive (near the 3100 Block of Vinson Road) upon a report of fire at a building under construction. When Clayton Police and Fire units arrived, the building (over 14,000 sq ft) was fully involved with flames through the roof. The building was being built by Stephenson General Contractors of Smithfield, NC and was planned to become a child care facility. The structure was essentially destroyed, but no monetary damage estimates are available at this time. The Clayton Police Department, State Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms, and the Clayton Fire Marshall conducted an investigation to determine the cause and origin of the suspicious fire. The findings of the investigators tend to indicate that the blaze was intentionally set.

The Clayton Police Department has secured juvenile petitions charging a Clayton youth with burning the building under construction at 55 Hawkesburg Drive. The juvenile, who cannot be identified under North Carolina law due to being only 13 years of age, voluntarily surrendered today at the Clayton Police Department escorted by a parent.

The juvenile has been served with a Secure Custody Order for Burning of a Building Under Construction and Breaking & Entering. Both charges are felonies. The juvenile is confined in an out-of county youth detention center until further proceedings in the Johnston County Juvenile Court System.

The investigation tends to indicate that the juvenile slipped surreptitiously out of the residence and left driving a family car during the early morning hours of April 5th and travelled to the area of the fire, before returning home in the pre-dawn hours.

These charges were filed after lengthy consultation with the Office of the District Attorney. The Clayton Police Department will not address further details of this fire or subsequent investigation because a juvenile has now been charged and a criminal case prosecution is pending.

Anyone that may have information regarding any intentionally set fires is asked to call the Clayton Police Department at 919-553-4611 919-553-4611 or Clayton Crime Stoppers at 919-359-TIPZ (8479). A reward is available for confidential information that leads to an arrest in any criminal offenses.