A Maryland police chief retired from the police force after decades to spend much of the next 10 years unleashing a series of arson attacks on his alleged enemies, according to a bevy of allegations revealed Wednesday.
David Crawford, 69, the former police chief of Laurel, Maryland, is charged with attempted murder and a dozen arson attacks from 2011 to 2020. He resigned from the police force in 2010. He is charged with 20 felonies in the county of Maryland alone. Prince George. according to the The Baltimore Sun– four counts of attempted murder in the first degree, four counts of attempted murder in the second degree, one count of first degree arson, five counts of second degree arson, and six counts of malicious combustion. But that’s not the only jurisdiction where Crawford is being prosecuted. He has also been charged in Montgomery, Frederick and Charles counties. He is facing 32 crimes in those three counties.
The arson attacks in question followed a pattern, police said: A hooded figure approached the target, poured gasoline from gallon jugs and lit the flame with a stick wrapped in cloth.
In a statement released Wednesday, the Prince George County Fire Department said, “In the course of the investigation, it was determined that the structures and vehicles that Crawford deliberately set fire to were associated with victims with whom he had had previous disagreements.”
Crawford reportedly went after government officials, the police chief who replaced him, a woman who had run a training program for his wife calling it “ white privilege, ” two doctors who used to treat him for a back injury, a neighbor in Ellicott City, Maryland . , and his own relatives including a stepson, whose house he allegedly attacked three times. Crawford’s search history included the addresses of several of his intended victims, police said.
‘All fires were at night. In six of the arson attacks the victim and their families slept in their homes, ”the fire brigade said. Investigators said Crawford was hiding his identity from surveillance cameras with hooded sweatshirts. He is said to have set fire to cars, garages and houses.
Oddly, a LinkedIn account that appears to belong to Crawford paints a distinctly happier picture of the alleged retired police chief turned arsonist. In the biography, Crawford describes himself as a ‘lover of people’ and mentions one of his personal mottos: ‘Find the positive’.
He also recalls important advice from a mentor: “95% of your law enforcement challenges melt away when you remember to talk to people the way you would like to be addressed and to treat people the way you would like to be treated. “