12-year-old boy set fire to Acme grocery, Ocean City cops say

OCEAN CITY — A preteen boy has been accused of setting a grocery store on fire in Cape May County this past weekend.

Ocean City Police and Fire responded to reports of a fire Sunday before 1 p.m. at the Acme supermarket, located at 800 West Avenue.

Everybody evacuated safely and there were no injuries to any customer, employee or firefighter, according to a city spokesman.

On Monday, a 12-year-old Ocean City resident was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated arson, as well as aggravated assault, criminal mischief, failure to report a fire and risking widespread injury/damage.

Ocean City Police said the boy was released to the custody of his family, pending an appearance in juvenile court.

Due to his age, the boy's identity was not disclosed.

A video of the fire and its dark, billowing smoke was posted to Facebook by passerby Michael Brosh on Sunday:

According to the store's Facebook page, it remained temporarily closed as of Tuesday.