NORWAY – Vandals spray-painted downtown cars and buildings and set fire to an already fire-damaged Cottage Street apartment building Wednesday night.

Police arrested Roy Ames, 28, of 25 Whitman St., Norway, and a 17-year-old Norway male on charges of arson, aggravated criminal mischief and burglary.

At least one other person is expected to be charged in the case, Norway police Chief Rob Federico said.

Ames is being held on $100,000 single surety or $25,000 cash in the Oxford County Jail, and is expected to be arraigned on the charges Friday in 11th District Court in South Paris.

The juvenile has been placed in temporary state custody following a detention hearing Thursday, Federico said.

Federico said there does not appear to be any connection between Wednesday’s fire, which started with an accelerant in the first floor, right side, and the Oct. 14 fire that ravaged the upper two stories of the seven-unit apartment building.

“This appears to be an isolated case, one specific incident occurring over a very short amount of time, all by a very limited amount of people,” said Federico of Wednesday’s spree.

Several cars were spray-painted behind the Fare Share food store and on Temple Street, as well as a police cruiser parked in the fire station parking lot, said Federico. The vandals spray-painted obscene remarks on the town’s new information kiosk next to the L.F. Pike & Son clothing store, and painted on the glass front of the former Colonial Coffee Shoppe, he said.

Flames were showing from the Cottage Street building when the first firefighters arrived on the scene about 10:30 p.m., said Fire Chief Mike Mann. Volunteers from the Norway, Paris and Oxford fire departments responded, and knocked down the fire in about a half-hour.

Since the Oct. 14 fire, rehab work had begun on the building, one of several downtown apartment buildings owned by Madeline Pratt. Prior to Wednesday’s arson, the first floor had sustained water damage, but no fire damage, Mann said.

“Now they’ve lost three more rooms,” Mann said, not to mention the expense to the departments in responding to the fire. Firefighters and officials from the State Fire Marshal’s office were on the scene until around 3 a.m., Mann said.

“It was a big expense,” he said.

Federico said the criminal mischief charge is aggravated because the damage caused was in excess of $1,000. The burglary charge stems from the act of entering a building without having authority to do so, he said. “There is no trespassing’ tape in front of it,” Federico said.

At the time of the Wednesday arrest, Ames was wanted on a warrant for failure to pay a fine, Federico said. A probable cause hearing for Ames has been set for Jan. 24 in 11th District Court in South Paris, he said.

The arrests came based on witness reports and evidence that has been sent to the state Crime Lab for processing, he said. Interviews in the case were continuing Thursday.