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Teen charged in school field house arson pleads not guilty
Original Publication Date: November 14, 2016 6:58PM
Publication Updated: April 27, 2025 6:46AM
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – A teen accused of setting fire to an upstate New York school’s field house and causing hundreds of thousands in damage has been ordered held without bail.
Nineteen-year-old Shameek McDuffie pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of felony arson, burglary, criminal mischief, petit larceny and criminal trespass.
Arguing for a low amount of bail, McDuffie’s attorney said his client has no prior criminal history.
But prosecutors countered that McDuffie faced “significant incarceration” for allegedly staring the Oct. 21 blaze that destroyed the field house of Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady.
Estimates to rebuild the Brother Lopez Athletic Field House have ranged from $400,000 to $500,000 — not including sports equipment and other items that were lost.
Two other teens have been charged in addition to McDuffie.
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