By Jim Clark

Police and firefighters were dispatched to the Kmart parking lot area on Middlesex Ave. shortly after midnight last Saturday on reports of an attempted arson.

Police questioned the reporting party, who told them that three individuals were seen stacking up cardboard boxes next to the book box in the parking lot, near the Kmart store. The witness reportedly said that one of the individuals set the pile of cardboard on fire.

Police caught up with the three suspects behind the Stop & Shop next to the onramp to 93 North.

The reporting party identified one of the suspects as the one who started the fire.

One of the juveniles questioned said that he was bored, walking around with his friends, and that he had been lighting small pieces of paper on fire. Another juvenile in the group affirmed what the first one said.

Meanwhile, firefighting units extinguished the small fire that had been set.

The two juveniles, and Michael Bobick, 18, were placed under arrest and charged with attempted arson.

A statement released by Somerville Police said that whether or not the suspects in this case have any connection to the recent incidents of suspicious fires in the city is under investigation.