'If you fired him, you'd be a target': Ex-police chief sets fire to more than a dozen homes, properties of people he believed slighted him, including his own stepson

A 74-year-old erstwhile constabulary main successful Maryland was sentenced to decades down bars for mounting occurrence to much than a twelve properties belonging to perceived rivals and enemies, including his ain stepson, connected 3 occasions.

David Crawford pleaded blameworthy connected Friday to 2 counts of first-degree arson and 1 number of second-degree arson, Montgomery County State Attorney John McCarthy said astatine a press conference. A justice sentenced him to 55 years successful prison. This is connected apical of the 8 beingness sentences positive 75 years helium received backmost successful 2023 for fires acceptable successful Howard County.

The fires successful Montgomery County occurred successful 2016, 2017 and 2020 astatine Crawford's stepson's location successful Clarksburg.

"It's a shocking improvement for a antheral who spent his beingness protecting individuals," said McCarthy.

Crawford's stepson Justin Scherstrom said the fires "caused my household a batch of distress implicit the years." Scherstrom couldn't pinpoint what angered his stepfather. He said helium tagged immoderate disagreements arsenic emblematic household "bickering."

"It was devastating," helium told reporters. "I mean, this is idiosyncratic that I knew intimately for implicit 30 years."

The suspect targeted different radical due to the fact that helium believed they slighted him successful immoderate way.

"If you fired him, you'd beryllium a target," said McCarthy. "If helium had a quality with you implicit immoderate schoolhouse committee matter, you would go a target."

In all, helium acceptable 13 fires crossed respective Maryland counties for astir a decennary until his apprehension successful 2021. McCarthy said it was important for his bureau to unafraid a blameworthy plea should the different lawsuit beryllium overturned connected appeal.

As Law&Crime previously reported, owed to respective of the sentences being served concurrently, Crawford's "actual executable situation sentence" is 2 presumption of beingness positive 75 years, according to a press release from the Office of the State's Attorney for Howard County.

Though nary 1 was killed successful immoderate of the fires acceptable by Crawford, galore — including young children — were forced to fly their homes successful the mediate of the nighttime to debar the flames and mislaid astir each of their idiosyncratic possessions.

"After cautious information of the state's recommendation, arguments and unfortunate interaction statements, Judge Bernhardt delivered a condemnation contiguous that we judge is wholly due for the defendant's crimes," State's Attorney Richard Gibson said successful a connection pursuing the proceedings. "The fearfulness and quality of arson is truthful profoundly almighty successful its interaction and implicit successful its demolition successful the victim's bid of caput that it is lone fitting the suspect walk the remainder of his earthy beingness down bars."

The 2023 sentencing came aft a Howard County assemblage earlier that twelvemonth recovered Crawford blameworthy connected 8 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 3 counts of first-degree arson and 1 number of first-degree malicious burning for fires acceptable successful that jurisdiction betwixt 2017 and 2018. He was archetypal arrested successful March 2021.

In total, Crawford is accused of intentionally starting fires successful six counties that targeted a erstwhile City of Laurel official, 3 erstwhile instrumentality enforcement officials, including a erstwhile City of Laurel Police Chief, 2 relatives, 2 of Crawford's chiropractors, and a nonmigratory successful his neighborhood.

"Investigators linked aggregate cases pursuing a 2020 occurrence erstwhile they discovered Crawford had erstwhile disagreements with aggregate victims," the merchandise states. "In January 2021, a hunt of Crawford's residence recovered respective pieces of evidence, including a database of targets that were known victims."

Crawford antecedently served arsenic main of the Laurel Police Department from 2006 until helium tendered his resignation successful 2010. Prior to his stint arsenic chief, Crawford worked for the Prince George's County Police Department and the District Heights Police Department.

At trial, prosecutors showed jurors surveillance video from respective of the scenes wherever Crawford lit fires. In those instances, Crawford tin beryllium seen displaying a "similar pattern" of utilizing gasoline arsenic an accelerant to acceptable the blazes.

The archetypal occurrence was allegedly acceptable successful Prince George's County successful 2011, during which helium was allegedly caught connected surveillance portion torching an unoccupied conveyance earlier accidentally mounting himself connected occurrence and fleeing the scene.

"These families person waited respective years for justness and we are grateful to play immoderate portion successful delivering that for them," Gibson said. "It is peculiarly egregious that idiosyncratic who dedicated their beingness to instrumentality enforcement and was the main of constabulary astatine immoderate constituent successful their vocation would instrumentality it upon themselves to prosecute successful behaviour that was evil and terrifying successful its nature. This condemnation should nonstop a connection that prosecutors are susceptible of holding instrumentality enforcement accountable if they interruption our laws."

Jerry Lambe contributed to this report