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On May 3, 2022, at approximately 3:46 a.m., Berlin Township police were dispatched to an alarm at the Pure Puff Vape Shop located on the 500 block of Route 73. While en route, police were advised of reports that the business was on fire.
Police and firefighters observed heavy smoke coming from the interior of the business. Police also learned that five other businesses on the 500 block of Route 73 – Tullia’s Italian Restraint, Burger King, B-Tan Tanning Salon, Red, White & Blue Thrift Shop, and Imported Car Care Center – had windows that were broken by rocks, authorities said.
Patrol officers located a suspect, identified as Hector W. Herrington nearby on Route 73, according to Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay alongside Berlin Township Lieutenant Ronald Silvestro.
An investigation led by detectives from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Berlin Township Police Department revealed that Herrington had been operating a U-Haul truck in the area when it ran out of gas.
Detectives learned that Herrington then engaged in a verbal argument with a female companion, became disorderly, and smashed windows to several businesses along the Route 73 corridor as well as started multiple fires inside of the Pure Puff Vape Shop, the prosecutor said.
Herrington also is accused of entering inside several parked cars in order to steal items as well as attempting to steal a car. During the attempted car theft of the car that was parked for repair at the Imported Car Care Center, Herrington rammed the vehicle into the business’s metal gates in an attempt to exit the fenced yard. No injuries were reported at any of the businesses.
Herrington was charged with one count of aggravated arson, three counts of burglary, three counts of attempted burglary, six counts of criminal mischief, one count of theft of a motor vehicle, and one count of theft of a credit card, the prosecutor said. Herrington was being held pending a pretrial detention hearing.
Detectives were assisted in the arson investigation by members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office, Camden County Fire Marshal’s Office, and Berlin Fire Marshal’s Office.
Anyone with information pertaining to this case is asked to contact Detective Tanner Ogilvie with the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (856) 580-5819 or Detective Brian Lex of Berlin Township Police Department at 856-767-5878, ext. 235. Tips can also be sent anonymously to ccpotips@ccprosecutor.org.
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