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non-ELF arrested for Maryland fire
BALTIMORE (AP) --
A security guard who worked at a development where a series of fires burned several homes has been arrested and charged in the case, a source close to the investigation said Thursday.
A security guard who worked at a development where a series of fires burned several homes has been arrested and charged in the case, a source close to the investigation said Thursday.
Aaron Speed, 21, was to appear Friday in federal court, the source said. The exact charges and alleged motive were not immediately known.
Speed is an employee of Security Services of America, a company hired to guard the upscale development outside the nation's capital. Fires broke out there early Dec. 6, doing $10 million in damage.
No one was hurt, but a total of 26 houses were damaged, 10 of them severely, in what authorities described as the largest residential arson case in Maryland history. Investigators said there was evidence that whoever was behind the arson tried to set 10 more blazes at the subdivision in the town of Indian Head, 35 miles south of Washington.
Early speculation was that the fires were set by environmentalists who believed the houses were a threat to a nearby bog. But no evidence has been found to support that theory, police said.
Because of the scale of the crime scene, authorities believe at least two people are responsible.
Officials with Security Services of America, based in Morehead City, N.C., did not return calls seeking comment.
Authorities searched the home of Speed's parents on Wednesday night and towed a car away, said David Jaillet, whose stepdaughter is married to the security guard.
Speed had suffered through several difficult family situations, including the death of a baby son this year and his own placement about 18 months ago in a foster home by an organization specializing in mental health treatment.
Jaillet said his stepdaughter and Speed married about a year ago and had twin boys earlier this year, but one of the boys died of intestinal complications.
Speed is a "decent person," Jaillet said. Asked if he thought Speed was involved in the fires, Jaillet said: "No, I don't think he is; it's not in his character."
Jaillet said Speed had worked as a security guard for about a year and was a supervisor at the Hunters Brooke site.
The Washington Post reported last week that Speed had told the newspaper that he saw a blue van at the Hunters Brooke development the morning of the fires. Firefighters had reported seeing the van leave the scene, the sheriff's office has said.
The FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office and the U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately return calls Thursday evening seeking comment.
Speed is an employee of Security Services of America, a company hired to guard the upscale development outside the nation's capital. Fires broke out there early Dec. 6, doing $10 million in damage.
No one was hurt, but a total of 26 houses were damaged, 10 of them severely, in what authorities described as the largest residential arson case in Maryland history. Investigators said there was evidence that whoever was behind the arson tried to set 10 more blazes at the subdivision in the town of Indian Head, 35 miles south of Washington.
Early speculation was that the fires were set by environmentalists who believed the houses were a threat to a nearby bog. But no evidence has been found to support that theory, police said.
Because of the scale of the crime scene, authorities believe at least two people are responsible.
Officials with Security Services of America, based in Morehead City, N.C., did not return calls seeking comment.
Authorities searched the home of Speed's parents on Wednesday night and towed a car away, said David Jaillet, whose stepdaughter is married to the security guard.
Speed had suffered through several difficult family situations, including the death of a baby son this year and his own placement about 18 months ago in a foster home by an organization specializing in mental health treatment.
Jaillet said his stepdaughter and Speed married about a year ago and had twin boys earlier this year, but one of the boys died of intestinal complications.
Speed is a "decent person," Jaillet said. Asked if he thought Speed was involved in the fires, Jaillet said: "No, I don't think he is; it's not in his character."
Jaillet said Speed had worked as a security guard for about a year and was a supervisor at the Hunters Brooke site.
The Washington Post reported last week that Speed had told the newspaper that he saw a blue van at the Hunters Brooke development the morning of the fires. Firefighters had reported seeing the van leave the scene, the sheriff's office has said.
The FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office and the U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately return calls Thursday evening seeking comment.
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IMC Network
The tin roof and a burned-out frame are all that remain of a cabin believed to have inspired the B-52's '80s party hit "Love Shack."
Athens-Clarke County fire officials said Thursday they considered the fire that gutted the unoccupied five-room cabin set back in a field "suspicious" and hadn't ruled out arson.
Fire Inspector Reginald Hunter said Monday's early morning fire couldn't have been caused by faulty electrical wiring or a gas leak because the cabin wasn't hooked up for utilities. He said building supplies used for renovating the house had been stolen.
Other properties near Athens -- where the quirky band known for towering beehive wigs and catchy, oddball pop songs formed in 1976 -- also have been credited with being the Love Shack. But it's known that singer Kate Pierson lived in the cabin in the 1970s.
"I just was in touch with the B-52's," said Allisa Huestis of Atlanta, who had planned to move into the renovated house next week. "They said it was the original Love Shack and was where they created `Rock Lobster,"' the popular song from the band's 1979 self-titled debut album.
B-52's publicist Bradford Cobb said Pierson wasn't available for comment.
"Love Shack," released in 1989, became the B-52's first Top 10 hit, rising to No. 3 on the Top 40 charts.
On the Net:
http://www.theb52s.com/