A teenager charged with setting fires in two bathrooms at Stuyvesant High School last year pleaded guilty yesterday to disorderly conduct. But instead of facing seven years in prison, 17-year-old Mohammed Hassan's only punishment is that he must give up his Senior year spot at the prestigious high school.
Hassan was caught on surveillance tapes last November entering bathrooms and leaving as trash cans erupted in flames. He also allegedly bragged about the fires to friends, but he may not have been the only one responsible. A few days after he was suspended, a copycat arsonist (the "Hiero Pyro") lit fires in bathrooms at the school, and left notes in hieroglyphics for cops. The school's physical education teacher Phil Fisher blamed the fires on "a couple of teenagers with too much time on their hands. Obviously, we have a couple of pyros around here."
Hassan, who wanted to go to Harvard and law school, pleaded not guilty to arson. His father previously said the Hiero Pyro proved that his son was innocent, telling reporters, "They don't have anything—the fires are still going on so this proves it. It's totally, completely racial." Hassan has been attending high school in the Bronx since the incident, and we hear he's really making a go of it over there.
