WARREN COUNTY > Police cars set afire; two men are charged • Two men are jailed and charged in a crime rampage that police say involved setting fire to police cars then sending a burning truck onto railroad tracks. Corey M. Puetz, 21, and Xavier D. Washington, 19, both of Warrenton, are each charged with first-degree burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and stealing over $500. Bond is set at $100,000. Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison said the rampage lasted from last Thursday morning until Saturday. No one was injured in any of the blazes.

Harrison gave the following account: About 1:30 a.m. Thursday, the duo went to the parking lot behind the courthouse in Warrenton. They put fireworks into the fuel filler tube of a Warren County sheriff's patrol car and lit it. But the fire didn't catch, and the pair ran off. They went to a nearby home and stole a can of gasoline. Then, they put a gas-soaked rag into the fuel tank of a patrol car and lit it. They ran to a nearby park and watched as firefighters put out the fire, Harrison said. The car was gutted. It was worth about $8,000, the sheriff said, and contained several thousand dollars' worth of police equipment. After that, the pair broke into two homes and stole a truck, police said.

Hours later, about 11:45 p.m. Thursday, police said they put gasoline into a weed-killer pressure sprayer and sprayed gas onto three cars owned by the Warrenton Police Department. They lit the gas and watched as it burned out. They came back with more gasoline and charcoal lighter fluid. They started another fire on the police cars. An officer saw the fire and used a fire extinguisher to put it out. Only one police car was damaged. A half-hour later, the men set the stolen truck on fire and drove it onto railroad tracks near the Highway 47 overpass in Warrenton, police said. A citizen's tip on Saturday eventually led police investigators to Puetz and Washington.

CHESTERFIELD > Arson blamed in fire at abandoned building • Arson is to blame for the fire that gutted the main building of an abandoned nursing home in Chesterfield early Tuesday, said Dave Nichols, fire marshal of the Monarch Fire Protection District. Nichols said the three-alarm fire was reported at 7 a.m. Tuesday at the former Chesterfield Manor nursing home, 14001 Olive Boulevard. About 30 firefighters fought the blaze, which was under control in a few hours, Nichols said. Whoever started the fire had piled up desks and wooden shelves and trash inside the building and lit it on fire. Investigators are talking to someone who saw people going over the fence Monday night. The abandoned nursing home is a popular spot for trespassers. Police write numerous tickets every year for people caught breaking in.