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David Crawford, 71, was found guilty by a jury on multiple attempted murder and other charges for his lengthy crime spree that stretched out for years, Howard County State’s Attorney Rich Gibson announced on Thursday, March 9.
Specifically, Crawford was found guilty on Thursday of:
- Eight counts of first-degree attempted murder;
- Three counts of first-degree arson;
- Malicious burning.
He was arrested in March 2021 in connection to 12 arsons that happened in Howard, Frederick, Charles, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Prince George’s counties between 2011 and 2020.
Crawford has been in custody since.
According to prosecutors, investigators were able to track down surveillance video in many cases where Crawford displayed a similar pattern of starting the fires with gasoline.
Each of the cases had been investigated separately in different jurisdictions and when surveillance video was discovered, the arsonist’s identity was hidden, in many of the cases, by a sweatshirt with a hood drawn tightly around their face, Prince George's County officials said. "The arsonist exhibited a similar pattern of behavior using gallon jugs filled with gasoline and a stick wrapped in cloth to set the fires.
"Also there was a similar, but very generic vehicle description, a silver sedan, in several of the cases."
He was ultimately linked to multiple cases in 2020 after they learned that Crawford had previous disagreements with multiple victims. A search of his home in January 2021 uncovered additional evidence, including a list of possible targets that were known to him.
Fires highlighted by Crawford during the prosecution include:
- At approximately 3:05 a.m. on March 5, 2017, fire and police responded to a vehicle fire in the 2900 block of Country Lane in Ellicott City;
- Shortly before 4:20 a.m. on June 23, 2017, first responders investigated a reported arson in the 6000 block of Avalon Drive in Elkridge, where a family of five was sleeping inside;
- Early on Dec. 9, 2017, and Sept. 22, 2018, in the 4000 block of Spring Meadow Drive in Ellicott City, where Crawford set fire to a house twice, including once when it was undergoing renovations from the initial blaze that was set.
Victims include a former City of Laurel official, three former law enforcement officials, including a former police chief, two relatives, two of Crawford’s chiropractors, and a resident in his neighborhood.
Gibson made note that Crawford is the former Police Chief for the City of Laurel, where he served from 2006 until his resignation in 2010 before his resignation. Prior to that, he was a Chief of the District Heights Police Department and served as a Major for the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Investigators say that none of the civilian victims of the fires were connected to Crawford through his law enforcement career.
“This was a very challenging case that spanned nearly 10 years and involved a dozen fires in multiple jurisdictions,” Gibson said on Thursday.
“We are incredibly grateful to the prosecutors who expertly tried this case and to the jury who carefully reviewed the evidence and the law enforcement officials and fire agencies that helped provide the crucial evidence needed to reach today’s result.”
Crawford is scheduled to be sentenced in June, where the state’s attorney says he will seek the maximum sentence of eight years in prison plus 95 years.
“Our heart goes out to the victims; and we hope this verdict and the sentence we are seeking will provide them with some sense of justice,” Gibson continued.
“Furthermore, Crawford, who had a long career in law enforcement, should have had a greater degree of respect for the rule of law and today’s verdict is a reminder that no one is above the law.”
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