Maryland Investigators Expand Arson Probe as Two More Suspects Arrested

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -- Even as more arrests are made and suspects continue to be interviewed, law enforcement officials have not found a motive for the arson that caused $10 million in damage at an upscale suburban Washington housing development.

The first man arrested and the two most recently arrested suspects arrested were to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Three other men arrested on the weekend will appear Thursday in court.

Michael E. Gilbert, 21, of Fort Washington, and Roy T. McCann, 22, of Waldorf, were arrested Monday, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore.

Three suspects arrested over the weekend made initial court appearances Monday. Magistrate Charles B. Day ordered Michael M. Everhart, 20, of Waldorf; Jeremy D. Parady, 20, of Accokeek; and Patrick S. Walsh, 20, of Fort Washington, held until a detention hearing Thursday.

A fourth suspect, Aaron L. Speed, 21, was arrested last week. Speed worked as a security guard at the Hunters Brooke site, while Parady was a firefighter with a volunteer fire company in nearby Accokeek.

Parady's lawyer, Tim Sullivan, said he would argue Thursday that his client be released on bond.

``He's a volunteer firefighter who has taken an oath to protect lives and protect property and he's innocent of these charges.''

Authorities also said they had interviewed or planned to question around 10 additional people who may be connected to the fires Dec. 6 in Indian Head, Maryland's largest case of residential arson.

Several of the suspects were interested in street racing and may have been members of an informal racing club, according to a law enforcement source who asked not to be identified. They would meet in a Wendy's restaurant parking lot in Waldorf, according to the source.

An affidavit filed for Everhart, Parady and Walsh said they and Speed, as well as unnamed ``acquaintances'' met in a Wendy's parking lot in Waldorf before they allegedly went to set the fires.

``A lot of them know each other from that club. That's one thing they had in common,'' the source said.

Neighbors said Everhart and Speed used to work on cars in their front yards. One neighbor, Charlie Heizmann, said he helped Speed replace an axle on a car he was refurbishing over Thanksgiving.

``He told me he wanted to be a policeman. I thought he was getting his life straight,'' Heizmann said.

A woman who worked as an assistant manager for eight years at a Wendy's on U.S. 301 in Waldorf said street racers gathered there regularly.

``A whole bunch of them used to gather up in the side parking lot before the police would run them away,'' said Loretta Coates. ``A lot of them put their hoods up and showed off their cars.''

At least 10 houses were destroyed and another 16 damaged in the fires at the Hunters Brooke development, where houses costing more than $400,000 were under construction. No one was hurt.

Parady told investigators his job was to be ``the wheels'' of the operation, according to the affidavit.

When investigators asked Walsh what would happen if dogs trained to find the scent of fire-starting liquids had a ``hit'' on two of his cars, he allegedly replied, ``Then I guess you got me.'' The dogs found evidence of accelerants in both the cars, findings Walsh was unable to explain, the documents claim.

Everhart said he knew about the plot to set the fires beforehand and was at the scene, but claimed he left before any houses were torched.

The four men and ``several others'' met in a Wendy's parking lot and traveled to the development in a dark blue Chevrolet Lumina and a second vehicle, the affidavit said. The Lumina belonged to Walsh; it was not clear whether the other vehicle was Walsh's second car or was another vehicle belonging to someone else. The group had matches, road flares and butane torches, as well as gas cans, cans of kerosene and a drum containing an ``unknown bitter-smelling liquid,'' the documents said.

Members of the group would kick in the door of a house, pour a pool of accelerant inside and ignite a trail from the pool to the door, the documents said. Tests detected traces of toluene and methyl isobutyl ketone - described by investigators as ignitable liquids not readily available to the public - on debris from the scene.

If convicted of arson, the men face a minimum prison sentence of five years each.

No motive has been established, but among the theories are that race and revenge may have been a factor. Everhart, Parady, Speed and Walsh are white, while many of the families moving into the houses are black. The races of Gilbert and McCann were not immediately known. None of the men are charged with hate crimes.

Police said there was no evidence to support an early theory that the fires were set by environmental extremists; some environmental groups had complained the houses threatened a nearby bog.

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