Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
Investigators ruled that an April 20 house explosion in Essex was caused by arson, and police took a 52-year-old man who owned the home into custody, Baltimore County authorities said in a news release.
A fire department spokesperson said investigators believe the man who had suffered non-life-threatening burn injuries in connection with the two-alarm fire at 28 Crafton Road was the person who set the fire. Authorities said last month that he was found at a nearby location and believed to have been injured in the same fire.
Fire crews could not enter the home while responding at about 11 p.m. on April 20, though they later said they could not locate any victims inside the structure. Charging papers say a dog, a 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named Nicki Minaj was missing from the home and could not be located.
The suspect was arrested Monday on a warrant charging him with first-degree arson as well as animal cruelty and other offenses, according to online court records, which did not list a defense attorney in the case. Police said he “created a fuel/gas explosion that led to a fire and destruction of the home he shared with his estranged wife and children.” The home was deeded to him in 2009, according to state property records, though court records list his address as a home a few blocks away, on Wiltshire Road.
Charging documents say the suspect’s wife told police they had been separated and he had not been living at the residence for about a month. As she and a male acquaintance left for a bull roast, the suspect had driven by the residence at about 6:30 p.m., proceeding to drive away “aggressively,” investigators wrote in the 15-page narrative.
Surveillance footage showed him returning on foot about an hour later, entering through an unlocked door, police wrote. A Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. analysis of natural gas readings showed an “abnormal increase” in gas flow starting at 9 p.m. until the house exploded about two hours later, with the suspect — who sustained first- and second-degree burns — leaving minutes later, walking toward Wiltshire Road, police wrote. A cap on the natural gas line in the basement appeared to have been manually unscrewed, according to police.
The suspect told investigators he was in the home “in and out of sleep” on the couch that evening and “did not smell anything unusual” ahead of the explosion.
A preliminary report on the fire obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public records request indicates that the blaze began in the basement. The report estimated the loss to be $300,000 for the property, which was completely destroyed by the fire and explosion, as well as $200,000 in contents.
©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
Investigators ruled that an April 20 house explosion in Essex was caused by arson, and police took a 52-year-old man who owned the home into custody, Baltimore County authorities said in a news release.
A fire department spokesperson said investigators believe the man who had suffered non-life-threatening burn injuries in connection with the two-alarm fire at 28 Crafton Road was the person who set the fire. Authorities said last month that he was found at a nearby location and believed to have been injured in the same fire.
Fire crews could not enter the home while responding at about 11 p.m. on April 20, though they later said they could not locate any victims inside the structure. Charging papers say a dog, a 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named Nicki Minaj was missing from the home and could not be located.
The suspect was arrested Monday on a warrant charging him with first-degree arson as well as animal cruelty and other offenses, according to online court records, which did not list a defense attorney in the case. Police said he “created a fuel/gas explosion that led to a fire and destruction of the home he shared with his estranged wife and children.” The home was deeded to him in 2009, according to state property records, though court records list his address as a home a few blocks away, on Wiltshire Road.
Charging documents say the suspect’s wife told police they had been separated and he had not been living at the residence for about a month. As she and a male acquaintance left for a bull roast, the suspect had driven by the residence at about 6:30 p.m., proceeding to drive away “aggressively,” investigators wrote in the 15-page narrative.
Surveillance footage showed him returning on foot about an hour later, entering through an unlocked door, police wrote. A Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. analysis of natural gas readings showed an “abnormal increase” in gas flow starting at 9 p.m. until the house exploded about two hours later, with the suspect — who sustained first- and second-degree burns — leaving minutes later, walking toward Wiltshire Road, police wrote. A cap on the natural gas line in the basement appeared to have been manually unscrewed, according to police.
The suspect told investigators he was in the home “in and out of sleep” on the couch that evening and “did not smell anything unusual” ahead of the explosion.
A preliminary report on the fire obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public records request indicates that the blaze began in the basement. The report estimated the loss to be $300,000 for the property, which was completely destroyed by the fire and explosion, as well as $200,000 in contents.
©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
Investigators ruled that an April 20 house explosion in Essex was caused by arson, and police took a 52-year-old man who owned the home into custody, Baltimore County authorities said in a news release.
A fire department spokesperson said investigators believe the man who had suffered non-life-threatening burn injuries in connection with the two-alarm fire at 28 Crafton Road was the person who set the fire. Authorities said last month that he was found at a nearby location and believed to have been injured in the same fire.
Fire crews could not enter the home while responding at about 11 p.m. on April 20, though they later said they could not locate any victims inside the structure. Charging papers say a dog, a 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named Nicki Minaj was missing from the home and could not be located.
The suspect was arrested Monday on a warrant charging him with first-degree arson as well as animal cruelty and other offenses, according to online court records, which did not list a defense attorney in the case. Police said he “created a fuel/gas explosion that led to a fire and destruction of the home he shared with his estranged wife and children.” The home was deeded to him in 2009, according to state property records, though court records list his address as a home a few blocks away, on Wiltshire Road.
Charging documents say the suspect’s wife told police they had been separated and he had not been living at the residence for about a month. As she and a male acquaintance left for a bull roast, the suspect had driven by the residence at about 6:30 p.m., proceeding to drive away “aggressively,” investigators wrote in the 15-page narrative.
Surveillance footage showed him returning on foot about an hour later, entering through an unlocked door, police wrote. A Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. analysis of natural gas readings showed an “abnormal increase” in gas flow starting at 9 p.m. until the house exploded about two hours later, with the suspect — who sustained first- and second-degree burns — leaving minutes later, walking toward Wiltshire Road, police wrote. A cap on the natural gas line in the basement appeared to have been manually unscrewed, according to police.
The suspect told investigators he was in the home “in and out of sleep” on the couch that evening and “did not smell anything unusual” ahead of the explosion.
A preliminary report on the fire obtained by The Baltimore Sun through a public records request indicates that the blaze began in the basement. The report estimated the loss to be $300,000 for the property, which was completely destroyed by the fire and explosion, as well as $200,000 in contents.
©2024 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
