22-year-old IU student pleads not guilty to charges of arson

UPDATE: According to online court records, a 22-year-old Indiana University student has pleaded not guilty to a string of arsons on IU’s campus.

Records indicate Alekhya Koppineni submitted a not guilty plea Dec. 27, 2019. She has been charged with 10 counts of arson. 

A jury trial for Koppineni has been scheduled for May 18, 2020.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — A 22-year-old woman has been arrested after a string of arsons causing light damage at Indiana University, campus police said Wednesday.

IU student Alekhya Koppineni, 22, was charged with 10 felony counts of arson, said a news release from a university spokesman. She was arrested overnight, Indiana University Police Department (IUPD) said.

The 10 arsons happened in the last 15 days, with most of the fires occurring in the past 24 hours. The first of the fires happened Dec. 3.

“A significant amount of effort, time and resources were expended to investigate these cases. To intentionally set fires in occupied buildings to cause panic and possibly injure people is unacceptable behavior. At this time the fires caused only minor property damage but exhausted university and city resources to respond and investigate,” said IUPD Deputy Chief Shannon Bunger said in the news release.

Property damage was minimal, the news release said, although details were not immediately available.

Online records show Koppineni has bonded out of the Monroe County jail.

Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Kehr said no formal charges have been filed against Koppineni, although they could be filed next week.