Stratford Man, 20, Pleads Guilty In Shakespeare Theater Fire

STRATFORD, CT — A Stratford man faces 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to burning down the American Shakespeare Theatre and setting four other fires, according to the Connecticut Post.

The Post reports Christopher Sakowicz, 20, also accepted responsibility Friday for fires Jan. 15, 2019, at the Southbury Training School, Feb. 17, 2019, at the old Bilco Co. in West Haven, March 9, 2019, at Good Earth Tree Care in Stratford and March 24, 2019, at Silver Sands State Park in Milford.

Prosecutors dropped the charge from a Feb. 8, 2019 fire in a vacant West Haven home in consideration of Sakowicz pleading guilty to the other five fires, according to the Post.

Sakowicz, Vincent Keller and Logan Caraballo were each charged in connection with the Jan. 13 blaze that destroyed the Shakespeare Theatre. They were all under 18 at the time of the fire but were charged as adults.

Stratford's iconic Shakespeare theater, which opened in 1955 and had been visited by famous actors and actresses including Katharine Hepburn, largely stopped showing plays in the 1980s. There has been talk for decades about how to revitalize the historic property.

After the fire at the theater, the trio admitted on Snapchat to starting the blaze in a video circulated at Bunnell High School, which Sakowicz and Keller attended at the time, the Post previously reported.

The cases against Keller and Carabello were continued to Aug. 10.

Read more at the Connecticut Post here.