Teens to be treated as adults in Shakespeare theater fire

STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) — A judge has ruled that three teenagers charged in connection with a fire that destroyed a Connecticut theater will be treated as adults.

The American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford was built in 1955, and Katharine Hepburn, Christopher Plummer, James Earl Jones and other stars once performed there.

Juvenile Court Judge Frank Iannotti on Tuesday transferred the cases of 17-year old Logan Caraballo, of Shelton and 18-year-olds Michael Keller and Christopher Sakowicz, of Stratford to Bridgeport Superior Court, making their names public.

The three face charges of arson, burglary, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass in connection with the Jan. 13 fire that destroyed the long-closed theater.

The theater had not hosted a play since 1989. It was modeled after London’s Globe Theatre, which burned in 1613.