A Carroll man accused of starting a fire in the basement of an occupied building has been scheduled for trial later this spring. According to Carroll County District Court records, 36-year-old Joshua Norbert Renze filed a written not guilty plea to a single count of reckless use of fire, a serious misdemeanor. The charge stems from an investigation by the Carroll Police Department into a Feb. 19 incident in the 100 block of North Clark Street. Authorities says Renze lit a box on fire and left it to burn unattended. An upstairs neighbor smelled the smoke and investigated, discovering the burning box in the basement. A judge signed an order Thursday scheduling Renze’s jury trial to begin Tuesday, June 1 with a pretrial conference set for Thursday, May 15.
