Teen charged as an adult in Delta Junction fires

  • By Associated Press
  • Thursday, August 21, 2014 8:39pm
  • News

FAIRBANKS (AP) — A 16-year-old Delta Junction boy stole alcohol from a lodge, burned it down and sold the booze out of his vehicle, according to state prosecutors.

Vasiliy Bill Malyk has been waived to adult status and will be prosecuted as an adult for fires that destroyed Clearwater Lodge and a Delta Junction home, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. He is being held without bail at Fairbanks Correctional Center.

Malyk is charged with nine felony counts, including arson, theft and evidence tampering.

Clearwater Lodge, a 55-year-old structure near the banks of the Delta Clearwater River, burned May 15.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Prosecutors said Alaska State Troopers investigators could not immediately determine how the fire started but on June 24, but they interviewed a man who said he has secretly recorded a conversation with Malyk in which the youth acknowledged a role in the crime.

The witness told troopers he confronted Malyk about alcohol he was selling from his vehicle.

“(The witness) stated Malyk told him he was there and that he’d take the fall before tatting out the others that helped,” Trooper Steven Lantz said in the criminal complaint.

The witness told troopers he erased the recording because he was afraid of retaliation.

A second fire on June 17 burned the home of a couple on vacation. Three rifles, jewelry and a laptop computer were stolen from the home. The charred wreckage revealed two fire-ignition points and piles of burned and unburned paper, troopers said.

Troopers arrested Malyk on Monday, and he acknowledged setting the home fire to cover the theft, prosecutors said. He also “confirmed his presence” at the lodge the night of the fire and said he took part in taking $750 in alcohol, prosecutors said.

He told investigators the fire was set by igniting boxes in the lodge basement, troopers said.

Malyk will be represented by a public defender. The public defender’s officer routinely declines comment on pending cases, and a person who answered the office phone Thursday in the Fairbanks office said no one was available to comment.

More in News

The Ninilchik River on May 18, 2019, in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Ninilchik River to remain closed to king salmon fishing

It was an “error in regulation” that would have opened the Ninilchik River to king salmon fishing on Wednesday.

A table used by parties to a case sits empty in Courtroom 4 of the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for 2023 drug death

Lawana Barker was sentenced for her role in the 2023 death of Michael Rodgers.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Seward resident arrested after Monday night police pursuit

Troopers say she led them on a high-speed chase on Kalifornsky Beach Road for around 7 miles.

Concert-goers listen to The Discopians at Concert on the Lawn on Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Karen Hornaday Park in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
‘Dancing at the end of the world’

KBBI AM 890 hosted their annual Concert on the Lawn Saturday.

Lisa Gabriel unfurls a set beach seine during a test fishery for the gear near Clam Gulch, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seine test fishery continues after board of fish calls for more data

The east side setnet fishery has been entirely closed in recent years to protect Kenai River king salmon

Jason Criss stands for a photo in Soldotna, Alaska, after being named a qualifier for the Special Olympics USA Games on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna athlete to compete in 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

Thousands of athletes from across all 50 states will be competing in 16 sports.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
HEA opens bids for real property

The deadline to submit bids is 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. (right) attends a change of plea hearing related to the October 2023 fatal shooting of Brianna Hetrick on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at the Homer Courthouse in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Mondragon-Lopez sentenced for death of Homer woman

Arturo Mondragon-Lopez, Jr. accepted a plea deal in February for the shooting of Brianna Hetrick.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in