Teen placed on probation for Poplar Bluff church fire

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Poplar Bluff teenager was placed on probation Tuesday after pleading guilty to throwing Molotov cocktails into a local church and then setting the church on fire when the devices didn't work.

Dylan W. Causbie, 17, pleaded guilty as charged to second-degree arson, according to Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.

As part of the plea negotiations, a county of unlawful use of a weapon was dismissed.

Causbie is the third of four suspects to plead guilty in connection with a Feb. 6, 2011, fire at Fellowship General Baptist Church in which the church's youth room was damaged.

"It was the same deal as everyone else," Barbour said.

After accepting Causbie's plea, Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett suspended the imposition of his sentence and placed him on five years' supervised probation.

A special condition of Causbie's probation is paying $100 a month in restitution, Barbour said. "It's going to be 60 months, so $6,000" total, he said.

Robert Benjamin Rushin, 19, of the 700 block of County Road 456 and Zachary Edward Surque, 19, of the 100 block of County Road 4703 pleaded guilty in November to the Class C felony of second-degree arson.

At the time of their pleas, Pritchett suspended the imposition of their sentences and placed them each on five years' supervised probation. As a special condition of their probations, each was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution.

The restitution money from the three defendants reportedly will be used to reimburse the church for whatever it paid out of pocket and the remaining amount will be forwarded to the church's insurance company.

Church officials report the insurance company paid out about $186,000 to repair the damage to its youth room

Also charged with the Class C felonies of seconddegree arson and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the fire is Andrew Storm McClure, 20, of the 2000 block of Tumbleweed Trail.

McClure also was to appear Tuesday before Pritchett for a plea or trial setting in his case; however, his attorney appeared and his case was reset for 9 a.m. May 15 for plea or setting.

The charges stem from a fire, which was reported just before 3:45 a.m. Feb. 6 to the Butler County Sheriff's Department and sent city and county firefighters to the scene.

Also responding were members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department, State Fire Marshal's Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

Preliminary scene examination, according to earlier reports, revealed the cause of the fire was incendiary after a Molotov cocktail was found intact inside the building. Windows allegedly were broken and the Molotov cocktails thrown inside.

Perrier water bottles allegedly were used to make the cocktails and their purchase was tracked to the Walmart Supercenter.

Surveillance video from the store, as well as witness statements, identified the four as suspects in the fire.

After their arrests, Rushin, McClure and Causbie told officers about their alleged actions the night of the fire, including how they had purchased the water bottles and used them.

They also allegedly told about later returning to the church, only to find no fire, and then allegedly dumping gasoline into the building through the broken windows and igniting it.

The fire "gutted everything in that room," including its walls and ceiling, heating and air conditioning system and electrical wiring, as well as its contents, according to Pastor Byron Beck.

Since the room was used for youth activities, Beck said, its contents included a number of electronic devices.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, MO