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On Friday, Jan. 1, Dushko (or "Dusko") Vulchev, of Houlton, Maine, was arrested in connection with an intentionally set fire at the Martin Luther King Presbyterian Church on Concord Terrace in Springfield, according to the Massachusetts Fire Mashal. He is being charged with three counts of attempted arson as well as malicious damage, police said.
This is not Vulchev's first run-in with the law, according to local news reports in Maine.
Vulchev, who is around 44 years old, was accused of kidnapping and holding a woman captive for several hours in 2016. The charges were later reduced to assault and Vulchev was let free on time served - 258 days in all - while awaiting trial at the Aroostook County Jail in Maine as well as a mental health facility, according to The County, Maine.
Vulchev spent 7 months in prison in 2015 when he was found guilty of “making threats in foreign commerce.” Vulchev had threatened to kill an economist and administrator with the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, The County reported.
Now law enforcement officials are alleging that Vulchev made three attempts to burn down the MLK church in Springfield before successfully setting the place of worship ablaze. He allegedly tried to set the church on fire on Dec. 13 as well as twice on Dec. 15. The church caught fire and was heavily damaged on Dec. 28.
The incident and cause of the fire are still under investigation.
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