David Crawford, the former police chief of Laurel, Maryland, was charged and arrested on Wednesday.
The 12 fires took place in Prince George s, Montgomery, Howard, Frederick and Charles counties from 2011 until late last year. Law enforcement said it had been unable to make a connection between the 12 alleged arsons until the most recent fire in Clarksburg on Nov. 17, 2020.
Like all of the fires, it was set in the middle of the night and the person seen on surveillance video had concealed their identity with a sweatshirt and hood, Prince George s County Fire/EMS Department said in a lengthy press release detailing all of Crawford s alleged crimes.