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Posted on: November 9, 2023, 06:10h.
Final up to date on: November 10, 2023, 11:40h.
A barn fireplace on the Tioga Downs On line casino Resort complicated killed at the very least two dozen racehorses through the early morning hours of November 9. New York State Police say a suspect has been arrested for arson.
Legislation enforcement responded on Thursday morning to a barn engulfed in flames at Tioga Downs, situated within the upstate New York city of Nichols. Quite a few racehorses had been discovered useless on the scene. A person who tried to rescue the animals was transported to an space hospital with second-degree burns.
In an replace Thursday night, New York State Police reported that 32-year-old Boyd H. Fenton of Athens, Pa., had been arrested in reference to the fireplace, which was decided to have been intentionally set. Fenton has been charged with 4 felonies, together with arson within the third diploma, housebreaking, legal mischief, and assault.
An investigation revealed that Fenton entered the barn and deliberately set a fireplace, inflicting hundreds of {dollars}’ price of injury,” the New York State Police assertion defined.
Police mentioned Fenton was arraigned earlier than a decide on Thursday afternoon and remanded to the Tioga County Correctional Facility.
Suspect Has Prolonged Rap Sheet
Legislation enforcement didn’t specify a motive for what prompted Fenton to allegedly set fireplace to the Tioga Downs secure. Police mentioned they “wish to provide condolences to affected people and households that misplaced their beloved animals throughout this tragic incident.”
Athens is a small city in Pennsylvania simply south of the New York border. The drive north to Tioga Downs is lower than 10 miles.
Tioga Downs is considered one of 4 upstate New York casinos with roughly 890 slot machines, 30 desk video games, and a FanDuel Sportsbook. New York actual property developer Jeff Gural is the controlling stakeholder of the complicated.
Gural additionally owns Vernon Downs in upstate New York, a racino with video lottery terminals (VLTs), and holds an possession place within the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.
Fenton has a prolonged rap sheet in his dwelling state. A court docket data search by On line casino.org turned up a number of circumstances, together with driving beneath the affect of a managed substance, legal trespassing, legal mischief leading to property harm, and possessing a small quantity of marijuana.
In June, court docket data present Fenton pleaded responsible to a second-degree felony cost for the legal trespassing cost, and spent eight days in jail. He was positioned on probation for 18 months following his launch.
Tioga Downs Backstory
Situated within the coronary heart of the Southern Tier, horse racing started in Nichols in 1976, with the ability on the time known as Tioga Park. Tioga Park was a monetary catastrophe, nonetheless, and closed after solely three years of quarterhorse racing.
Gural agreed to buy the shuttered facility in 2005 after New York lawmakers legalized VLTs at state-licensed racetracks and off-track betting amenities. He constructed a brand new standardbred racetrack (5/8 mile) and opened the racino in June 2006.
After New York expanded gaming in 2013, Gural obtained one of many 4 Las Vegas-style on line casino licenses allotted for the upstate area. VLTs had been changed with slots and desk video games had been introduced in when the industrial on line casino lastly opened in late 2016.
Gural a yr later opened a 160-room resort. Sports activities betting arrived in 2019.
The 2023 Tioga Downs harness racing cause season ran from early Could by way of the tip of September. The calendar was highlighted by the $500K Empire Breeders Basic Finals on August 27.
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