A former Krum High School quarterback is accused of burglarizing and burning down the home of a friend's former girlfriend.
William “Caz” Wojciak, 18, is being held in the Denton County jail on a charge of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony, arson.
Scott Hooper's home, west of Krum, is a total loss after it was burned Oct. 2. Thousands of dollars in property were lost, and several guns and jewelry were stolen during the incident.
The Denton County Sheriff's Office began investigating the daytime fire after investigators, along with Krum police and the Texas Rangers, began looking into rumors about a planned mass shooting at Krum High School's Oct. 4 homecoming game.
Police questioned Wojciak and a 17-year-old friend who has not been charged because they were mentioned in the rumors.
"We don't believe that was something that was going to be carried out," Assistant Chief Deputy Randy Plemons said Friday.
Extra security was added to the game as a precaution, but nothing happened.
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However, during the inquiry, investigators learned that the 17-year-old’s former girlfriend’s home had recently burned down and was burglarized of several guns.
An arrest affidavit states that investigators were notified that Wojciak was bragging to people that he set the fire because of the 17-year-old's bad breakup with Hooper's daughter.
"We believe that that has everything to do that a relationship that has gone bad -- boyfriend-girlfriend went bad," Plemons said.
Investigators found several areas in the house where an accelerant, possibly gasoline, had been used. Investigators are still waiting for tests to determine what flammable liquid was used.
The Hooper family’s dog also appeared to have been intentionally set on fire. The document said the pet was found with severe burns after the fire. The burns were so severe, the dog was later put down.
A veterinary hospital said that it believed an accelerant had been put on the dog.
Court records say investigators requested Wojciak’s medical records from Krum Family Healthcare Associates from Oct. 1-9. Wojciak’s sister helped get him burn ointment and a prescription from a physician’s assistant at the clinic.
Wojciak told investigators he got burns on his forearms on Oct. 4, after he was splashed with gasoline while filling up a weed-eater and then lit a cigarette. However, court documents indicate that his injuries did not match his description of what happened.
During an interview with police about the school threats, both Wojciak and the 17-year-old’s phones were examined and copied. When they were reviewed on Oct. 10, six days later, most of the information was found to be deleted. Court documents say Wojciak used his phone throughout the interview and that items were intentionally removed.
A recovered Internet search reveals that Wojciak searched “how do you get rid of burns quick” on Oct. 3, both a day after the arson fire and a day before he said he sustained the burns, according to court documents.
Police also recovered deleted text messages that read “all the way to the ground” about two hours before the fire was set and "Yee! She (expletive deleted) with the wrong (expletive deleted).”
The court documents do not indicate on which phone the messages were found.
On Oct. 15, investigators separately located two witnesses who said Wojciak told them he burned down Hooper's home. One witness said Wojciak showed him several guns and said he took the weapons from the Hooper home.
Investigators found eight long guns and one revolver when Wojciak was arrested at his home on Wednesday.
It has not yet been determined if the guns are linked the burglary of the Hooper home.
The officer writing the affidavit said he believes Wojciak went to the home to commit arson and that he stole numerous guns and jewelry and "intentionally set fire to the Hooper’s family pet dog."
When deputies went to Wojciak's home, it took him 30 minutes to open the door, the sheriff's department said. Once he did, they found the 17-year-old friend also in the home and smelled narcotics in Wojciak’s room.
Investigators said they found drug paraphernalia, pawn recipients and assorted bags of K2. The street value of the K2 is estimated at $2,000. They also found the guns.
The Denton County Sheriff’s Office said it continues to investigate and said more charges could be filed against Wojciak and other people.
Hooper told NBC 5 on Friday that his family is coping with all that has happened and is pleased Wojciak has been arrested and charged. He said his family hopes more charges will be filed, saying there is even more to the case than court documents have revealed so far.
Wojciak, a former Krum High School quarterback, is not enrolled in the school this year.
The Krum school district said on Friday that a pep rally was canceled because of parental concern about the shooting rumor. While the rumor involved a game two weeks ago, the district canceled the rally out of precaution.
Extra security also will be at the football and volleyball games on Friday night.
