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Marcus B. Wise has been charged with five arson-related counts, as well as a single count of burglary and another count of criminal mischief.
The string of fires began around 10 p.m. July 25 at a business on North Wood Avenue, followed within a half-hour by a second blaze in the 900 block of Seymour Avenue at a vacant home. These were followed by a brush fire and a dumpster fire.
No one was seriously injured in the blazes.
Police responded to the 400 block of Roselle Street around 1:15 a.m. July 26, shortly after the fires were set, on a report of a person throwing rocks through a glass door. Wise -- who had a lighter, a can of WD-40 and some cardboard -- was taken into custody.
An investigation by the the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the multi-jurisdictional Union County Fire Investigation Task Force, and the Prosecutor’s Office, Union County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, and Linden Police Department led to the charges filed against Wise, authorities said.
He was being held at the Union County jail pending an Aug. 9 court appearance.
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