Posted on: Thursday, July 26, 2001

Five O'ahu men indicted in series of arson cases

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

Five O'ahu men were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in a string of arson cases.

The indictment says George Grace III, Keoki Medeiros, Joseph Mangca and Scott Silva stole and stripped a $130,000 Kenworth truck from the Cutter Trucking Center in 'Aiea in August 1996, stole a second truck to haul away the first one and then burned the trucks in a Kunia pineapple field to hide the evidence.

The indictment also charges that Grace conspired with others in January 1999 to set fire to a number of trucks at the Penske Truck Leasing Co. yard off Sand Island Road and to burn six other Penske trucks at a Pu'uhale Road storage lot two days later.

Grace, William "Bulla" Nelson and Mangca are also accused of setting fire to 56 portable toilets stacked on wooden pallets at Aloha Stadium.

According to the indictment, the portable toilets that were burned belong to A's Party Portables, a competitor of Grace's in the portable toilet rental business.

The indictment contends that Grace told others who assisted with the Penske truck-burning efforts that a competing firm wanted the trucks burned and was offering to pay $1,000 per burned truck.

Grace could not be reached yesterday to comment on the indictment.