Man charged with setting house fire, nearby school blaze being probed

Hamilton police also are investigating a small fire that damaged a window and window frame at Robinson Elementary School in White Horse.

HAMILTON - A Hamilton man has been charged with setting fire to a house occupied by two people early Saturday morning, police said.

And police are asking for the public's help finding whoever started a small fire at Robinson Elementary School, which was discovered early Monday.

Kyle Oszczakiewicz 

Kyle Oszczakiewicz, 33, of Regal Court in Hamilton was charged with aggravated arson in connection with a fire at a Hempstead Road house around 1:22 a.m. Saturday. Oszczakiewicz's bail was set at $35,000 police said.

Oszczakiewicz approached police responding to the fire call and asked if the fire department was coming because there was a fire behind the Hempstead Avenue house, police said.

An 83-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man were inside the house at the time of the fire, police said.

Investigators found a propane cylinder on fire and plastic chairs up stacked up against the rear door of the residence. Firefighters from White Horse fire company doused the blaze, police said.

Oszczakiewicz knew the victims of the fire, police said.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Leonard Gadsby, along with Detective Thomas Paglione from the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office and District 9 Fire Marshal Mike Danbury.

Hamilton police also are investigating a small fire that damaged a window and window frame at Robinson Elementary School, which was discovered by a custodian Monday morning but .

The two fires are in the same White Horse neighborhood, which Hamilton police Lt. Jeffrey Martin said was "very coincidental."

Detectives are asking for the public's help in developing any video evidence of the area of the school - at 495 Gropp Ave. - between the hours of 12:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., Saturday.

The school fire, discovered by a custodian, likely occurred before Monday morning, police said.

Anyone with any information about the Robinson school fire is asked to contact Detective Matthew Donovan of the Hamilton Police Division's Criminal Investigations Section at 609-689-5824 or the Hamilton Police Crime Tip Hotline at 609-581-4008.

Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.