INQUIRER: For week upon week, Coatesville-area residents wondered who was doing this to them. Who was lighting the fires that made national news, left scores of people homeless, caused at least $3.5 million in damage, and left Coatesville afraid to sleep? Was it somebody they saw on the street, somebody who stood beside them in the convenience store? Authorities said yesterday that at 
least nine of the 24 fires set since Jan. 1 had been the work of a 19-year-old tech student from Downingtown — nine miles away. The suspect had no reported connection to the old steel town, 35 miles west of Philadelphia, that became tarnished and on edge. Police said Roger Leon Barlow Jr. [pictured, right], who received a diploma from the Downingtown Area School District last year, had admitted starting the nine fires, which included the spectacular Jan. 24 blaze that spread across the roofs of 15 rowhouses on Fleetwood Street. Police did not account for the rest of the fires but said the investigation was not complete. In fact, authorities took a second man into custody last night. MORE
WIKIPEDIA: Pyromania, a type of mania, is an impulse to deliberately start fires to relieve tension and typically includes feelings of gratification or relief afterward. Pyromania is distinct from arson, and pyromaniacs are also distinct from those who start fires because of psychosis, for personal, monetary or political gain, or for acts of revenge. Pyromaniacs start fires to induce euphoria, and often tend to fixate on institutions of fire control like fire stations and firefighters. MORE
***
HOT DOC: This Is The Face Of Domestic Abuse
[Photo via TMZ]
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The Los Angeles Police Department opened an internal investigation late Thursday into whether a picture posted on a celebrity gossip website purportedly showing the bloody and bruised face of R&B star Rihanna was part of police evidence in the case, department officials said in a statement. The LAPD currently is investigating an alleged altercation between Rihanna and singer 
Chris Brown [pictured, right], who police said injured the female artist during a fight the couple had last week in a Hancock Park neighborhood the morning of the Grammy Awards. The department issued a statement that said the photograph has the appearance of one taken during an official domestic violence investigation. “The Los Angeles Police Department takes seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence,” it read. “The Department launched an immediate internal investigation and subsequently filed a personnel complaint. A violation of this type is considered serious misconduct, with penalties up to and including termination.” MORE