Police: Irmo Teen Charged with Arson

A teenager has been charged with arson after starting a fire behind a shopping center in Irmo early Sunday morning, according to the . 

Officers arrested Julian Zander Maxim, 17, of River Song Road in Irmo and charged him with underage possession of alcohol and arson in the third degree.

Maxim is accused of entering a locked, fenced area behind the Irmo Station Shopping Center on St. Andrews Road and starting a fire in some equipment that belonged to one of the shopping center tenets, according to a release. 

Damage to the equipment is estimated to be $2,500. 

Both the Irmo Police and firefighters from the Irmo Fire District were dispatched to the scene. 

Senior Patrolman Riley Null saw Maxim standing in the area near the fire and approached him.

Null noticed Maxim appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, and found a bottle of Smirnoff vodka in one of Maxim's pockets and a butane lighter in the other pocket. 

Under South Carolina law, underage possession of alcohol is a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum 30 day jail sentence and/or a fine.  Arson in the third degree is a felony with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.