Conneaut Lake, Pa. - The International Olympic Committee was charged yesterday with using the Olympic Torch to start a fire that destroyed the 99-year-old Dreamland Ballroom at Conneaut Lake Park in February.
Police say that the Committee is also under suspicion for using the Olympic Torch to set fire to nine homes in north-central Crawford County between mid-August and early December.
Criminal attorney Jim Ecker, who represents the Committee, labeled the charges ludicrous. "It is absurd to suggest that the the men and women of the International Olympic Committee would be going around torching buildings in Western Pennsylvania," said Ecker. "This is not to suggest that I would trust them near a pack of matches, but the charges are absurd."
Police are also investigating the Committee's possible connection to the deadly MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas in 1980 and the October 2007 Southern California wildfires.
