Man charged with setting fire at library

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A 19-year-old man has been charged with setting fire to the main branch of the Springfield library in an attempt to cover up a message he posted in an Internet chat room using one of the library computers, authorities said.

Jared Rupp, of Springfield, was charged Sunday with second-degree arson and second-degree burglary. Both crimes are class C felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Rupp was released from the Greene County Jail on $10,000 bond on Sunday after Springfield police arrested and questioned him on Saturday.

Police chief Lynn Rowe said Rupp told police he set the fire to destroy computer evidence.

According to a police statement, a witness said Rupp was at the Library Center the day before the fire was set last month. That day, Rupp posted a message in which he said he knew who had set a fire that destroyed a local business. Rupp admitted posting the message, police said.

The statement continued: "Rupp stated that other persons who observed that message became enraged upon seeing it, and he knew that he had to cover up any evidence left that he had been at the Library Center ... and had posted the message."

Police said the claims made in the chat room message are being investigated.

The fire caused more than $500,000 in damage, much of it in cleanup costs, Annie Busch, director of the Springfield-Greene County Library District, said Sunday.