Arson

Two arrested after stolen SUV crashes into house Two male suspects were arrested Monday night after the stolen sport utility vehicle they were driving slammed into an East Baltimore house, according to city police. A man called police about 11:30 p.m. and said one suspect approached him and his girlfriend as they were standing in the 200 block of S. Hilton Ave., according to Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. "He gave him a hard-luck story about his grandmother," Harris said, and the pair agreed to give the suspect a ride.

Three male strippers drop lawsuit against MdTA police Three male strippers have dropped their lawsuit alleging that Maryland Transportation Authority police officers forced them to pose nude for photographs after a traffic stop. Edward Cloyd of Washington, David A. Lawrence Jr. of Severn, and Derrick Williams of College Park dropped their lawsuit last month, MdTA police officials said yesterday. After a March 2006 performance in Philadelphia, the three exotic dancers were being driven to the Washington area when the driver was pulled over for speeding just south of the Harbor Tunnel on Interstate 895. Police confiscated $9,645 from the three men and charged them with marijuana possession.

Baltimore County officials said they are investigating a suspected arson yesterday at a popular restaurant that was a landmark for bushels of steamed crabs."

Surrounded by empty, trash-filled rowhouses in East Baltimore's Brentwood Village, Charlene Stafford has dealt with rats overtaking her basement, strange odors seeping into her house and the threat of a fire spreading to her home.Since moving to the 1100 block of Forrest St. six years ago, Stafford has watched the houses around hers empty and become trash sites and targets of arsonists.But she and a handful of neighbors got some relief yesterday when 100 Baltimore firefighters, housing authority workers and community volunteers pitched in to board up four vacant properties on the block and clean several nearby lots and alleys.

A Westminster man who attempted to burn the home of his ex-girlfriend, their baby son and her parents received a 30-year prison sentence yesterday in Carroll Circuit Court.Before he was sentenced for arson, Christopher Lee Myers, 19, told Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. he was sorry for igniting gasoline at the New Windsor home last year.Myers entered into a plea bargain in February. After the prosecutor's statement of facts, he was found guilty of arson and five counts of reckless endangerment against each of the people at the home, and of two automobile thefts.

Elizabeth Moore has been named to the dean's list at York College of Pennsylvania for the spring semester.A graduate of North Carroll High School, she is working toward a bachelor's degree in nursing.She was secretary of the nursing class and involved in Omega Chi Sorority.Students must carry at least 12 academic hours and have a 3.5 or higher grade point average to make the dean's list.She is the daughter of James and Mary Moore of Westminster.Westminster woman charged with arsonA Westminster woman accused of becoming violent and setting fire to a chicken coop at her residence this month has been charged by state fire marshals with second-degree arson.

Baltimore County officials charged yesterday the former owner of Towson's Carney Crabhouse and three others with arson and theft, saying the former owner set the fire four days after he was forced to sell the property.In charging documents, police said the fire on Nov. 2 was started in five places at the 4000 block of Joppa Road, and caused about $5,000 worth of damage.Police charged Milton Zacharski, 74, Charles Williams, 62, Barbara J. Williams, 61, and Scott Ward, 32, all of the 2000 block of Cox Road, with second-degree arson and burglary.

A former Reese businessman, who is serving a 10-year prison term for bilking customers of down payments for undelivered carpet services, was sentenced yesterday to 18 additional years for the 1997 arson of the store.Before imposing the consecutive term, Carroll Circuit Judge Francis M. Arnold said he agreed with prosecutor David P. Daggett that Roy D. Marshall is a career criminal who has exhibited a "total disregard for the law."The judge also signed a $90,000 civil judgment against Marshall in favor of Walter Russell, the property owner who lives next door to the burned-out store and shed.

Arson is believed responsible for a three-alarm fire that caused part of a Charles County Board of Education storage building to collapse yesterday morning, the state fire marshal said.The one-story block building, the former Pomonkey Elementary School on Metropolitan Church Road in Bryans Road, housed school furniture and supplies.Damage is estimated at $300,000. There were no injuries.The fire began about 3: 30 a.m. Eighty-five firefighters from 12 departments in Charles and Prince George's counties, including firefighters from Andrews Air Force Base, spent two hours bringing it under control.

A 19-year-old Westminster man was convicted of arson and reckless endangerment yesterday for igniting gasoline at a New Windsor home -- while his former girlfriend, their baby son, her parents and her new boyfriend were inside -- last year.As part of a plea bargain, Christopher Lee Myers could receive up to 30 years in prison for first-degree arson at sentencing, scheduled for May 11 by Carroll Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns.Myers, of no fixed address, was captured near railroad tracks in Westminster after a three-day search and has been held at the Carroll County Detention Center.

A mentally ill homeless man was sentenced Thursday to 10 1/2 years in prison for setting fire to another homeless man's tent last fall. John Allen Wilder, 41, was charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, assault, arson and other counts. He entered an Alford plea to first-degree arson, which does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to gain a conviction. The other charges were dropped under the plea deal. Wilder, who had been drinking, was upset at him when he settled in for the night Nov. 22, 2008, in a homeless camp behind BJ's Warehouse in Pasadena, John Kreimer said.

The U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech doesn't include the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, and neither should the Maryland state constitution's guarantee of an adequate, free public education cover all misbehaving students who deliberately set fires in public schools. Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso says he has the authority to enforce a zero-tolerance policy and permanently expel students involved with arson or explosives. That may seem harsh, but he insists that you can't have a functioning school system where setting fires is considered acceptable behavior.

Unidentified man shot and killed in Baltimore An unidentified man was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in the 100 block of S. Highland Ave., according to Baltimore police. The man was taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and pronounced dead shortly after arrival, police said. No arrests have been made. - Brent Jones Man guilty in arson deaths of girlfriend's daughters A Hancock man has pleaded guilty in Hagerstown to two counts of felony murder in the arson deaths of his girlfriend's adolescent daughters.

Two arrested after stolen SUV crashes into house Two male suspects were arrested Monday night after the stolen sport utility vehicle they were driving slammed into an East Baltimore house, according to city police. A man called police about 11:30 p.m. and said one suspect approached him and his girlfriend as they were standing in the 200 block of S. Hilton Ave., according to Officer Troy Harris, a police spokesman. "He gave him a hard-luck story about his grandmother," Harris said, and the pair agreed to give the suspect a ride.

A former gang member confessed to a key role in the firebombing of a Piney Orchard townhouse - a crime that police suspect was a retaliation for the death of a 14-year-old, a prosecutor said Friday. Also, witnesses told investigators that Jonathan R. Myers, 22, bought the gasoline for the Molotov cocktail that charred the front of the home, the prosecutors said. The information came to light as an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge revoked Myers' bond in another case. The Gambrills man had been out of jail and awaiting trial on an attempted murder charge when the firebombing occurred.

Howard County police are investigating the possibility of arson in a fire that destroyed a one-story wood home in Highland early yesterday. A man who drove away from the home as firefighters arrived was later stopped by police and taken to the hospital, police said. Police did not release the man's name, but neighbors identified him as Scott Wilson, the resident of the home, which is in the 7200 block of Mink Hollow Road, near the Montgomery County line. The man was taken to Howard County General Hospital, though police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said he did not appear to be injured.

Edmondson Village fire's cause 'not fully discernible' Baltimore fire investigators could not determine the cause of last month's four-alarm fire at the Edmondson Village Shopping Center in West Baltimore because of the amount of damage. The Arson Task Force, made up of the Fire Department's investigation bureau and Baltimore police arson detection squad, has deemed the cause of the fire "not fully discernible," Chief Kevin Cartwright, Baltimore fire spokesman, said yesterday. He said the fire was not considered suspicious.

Police and fire officials said yesterday that they are investigating Tuesday's blaze at a community-built playground in Waverly as an arson, and firefighters fanned out into surrounding neighborhoods seeking tips as residents met to begin the rebuilding effort. On the parking lot of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center at Stadium Place, steps away from the charred remains of the playground, residents tossed money into a collection bucket last night and children held signs describing favorite features that they would like to see restored.

The state fire marshal's office is investigating an arson early yesterday at an abandoned business in Joppa where Harford County plans to build a new sheriff's precinct station, authorities said. A passer-by saw the fire in the 600 block of Pulaski Highway shortly after 2 a.m., said Joseph G. Zurolo Jr., deputy state fire marshal. It took six fire companies about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control. Damage was estimated at $10,000. The two-bay block garage was formerly Edgewood Cars for Less, and it had been vacant and open to trespassers for some years, Zurolo said.

Kent Island plane mishap is investigated Authorities are investigating an airplane accident in which a pilot giving a flight lesson lost control of a small Cessna while landing at a Kent Island airport and skidded off the runway, Maryland State Police said. No injuries were reported. State police at the Centreville barracks said the accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Bay Bridge Airport in Stevensville in Queen Anne's County. Police said the pilot, Matthew Parrish Partovi, 42, of Annapolis, was teaching David James Miller, 23, of Queenstown.