Guard says he knew of plan for subdivision fires
Associated Press
GREENBELT, Maryland (AP) -- Three more people, including at least one volunteer firefighter, were arrested Saturday in connection with the largest residential arson in Maryland history, a collection of blazes that caused $10 million in damage to new houses in an upscale development.
The three men were arrested early Saturday, federal and local officials said. They would not immediately discuss a possible motive.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Baltimore, Maryland, identified the men as Patrick Stephen Walsh, 20, of Fort Washington; Jeremy Daniel Parady, 20, of Accokeek; and Michael McIntosh Everhart, 20, of Waldorf. In a recorded message, a spokeswoman for the office said the men had been charged with arson.
“We’re 100 percent sure that he is innocent,” said a man who answered the phone at Walsh’s home and identified himself only as Walsh’s father.
Jeremy Parady is listed on the Web site for the Accokeek Volunteer Fire Department as a “riding member.” The chief of the department, Jeff Cox, refused to comment Saturday.
Charges earlier were filed against a security guard who told police he was upset by the way he had been treated by his employer.
The December. 6 fires at the Hunters Brooke development destroyed 10 houses and damaged 16 others. Many of the houses were still under construction. The fires broke out almost simultaneously over a 10-acre site.
On Friday, Aaron L. Speed, 21, who worked at the development for Security Services of America, appeared in court on a charge of arson. He said he was upset that his employer did not show enough sympathy after his infant son died this year, according to court documents.
Speed came under suspicion after allegedly failing a polygraph and telling investigators he was home in bed when a colleague phoned to tell him of the fires, although cell phone records showed the call went through a cell phone tower closer to the scene, according to court documents.
According to an affidavit, Speed told authorities “that he was present at the location, along with others with whom he was acquainted, while the fires were being lit.”
“Speed claimed that he knew of the plan by others known to him to set a fire at the location,” the affidavit continued. “He also asserted that he told others how to gain access to the site.”
Initially, there had been speculation the fires were set by environmental extremists, because some environmental groups had complained the houses threatened a nearby bog. But no evidence has been found to support that theory, police said.
Speed told police he left his security job from August to October because of his employer’s “indifference to the death of his infant son,” according to court papers.
Speed told investigators that his son, one of twins, died in April, when he was about three months old. His wife’s stepfather said the baby, Christian A. Speed, died of intestinal complications.
Speed’s attorney, John C. Chamble, and his relatives declined to comment Friday at the courthouse.
Security Services of America has said only that it is cooperating with authorities. The security firm is based in North Carolina and has operations in more than 20 states. According to a recent survey in Security Magazine, it had revenue of more than $85 million in 2002 and more than 4,500 full- and part-time workers.