Teenager accused of setting fire denies act

The teenager accused of setting fire to a Mount Pleasant home told a bond court judge this morning he didn’t do it and did not understand why he was being accused.

Raheim Bradley, 18, of Boston Grill Road in Mount Pleasant, is charged with third-degree arson and burglary in connection with Wednesday’s blaze on Rifle Range Road.

Julie Williams, a preschool teacher who lived in the house at 2769 Rifle Range Road with her husband and two sons, told the judge that Bradley had visited her home on several occasions with her 18-year-old son.

She called the alleged act “thoughtless, uncaring, unjustifiable.”

Police arrested Bradley after a neighbor reported seeing him toss a burning device inside the house on Wednesday.

Williams wanted to know why it happened, she said after the bond hearing in North Charleston.

She said she hadn’t spoken to her son yet about whether Bradley would have a reason to set their home on fire.

“If he is the one who did it, I could only surmise an altercation took place” she said.

Bradley’s grandmother, who declined to give her name to a reporter after the hearing, told the judge that Bradley was in school at the time of the fire. He attends Wando High School, according to statements made in court.

The Williams family was not in the house when the fire started.

Now, they are left looking for a place to stay, they said.

The American Red Cross put them up in a hotel until tomorrow morning.

They said they’re grateful for the help, but “as of tomorrow, we have no where to go,” Williams said.

Read more in upcoming editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Natalie Caula at 937-5594 or Twitter.com/ncaula.