Arson

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Arson is suspected in a second fire at 6121 Timber Ridge Road in southern Morgan County.   The Wednesday morning fire destroyed the two-story, wood-frame, single-family dwelling, Berkeley Springs Fire Department Assistant Chief James Steiner said.  The damage is estimated at $250,000, he said.  Steiner said his company received a call at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday for the same house that burned Monday afternoon. That fire was in the living room and destroyed its contents, Steiner said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Chambersburg man was charged with arson following an apartment fire Sunday afternoon on South Main Street. Police said Robert J. Smith, 27, of 270 S. Main St., was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Larry Pentz and jailed in Franklin County Prison on $25,000 bail. The fire was called in at about 4 p.m. and was in Apt. 3 of The Village Apartments, 270 S. Main St. No one was injured in the fire, which was started in a bedroom of the apartment, said Bryan Shatzer, a career firefighter and emergency medical technician with the Chambersburg Fire Department.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg man who entered a guilty plea to first-degree arson on Monday told 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes that he was intoxicated when he started a residential fire last year. Allen K. Starcher, 46, is expected to be sentenced Feb. 1 as part of a plea agreement he entered with Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Jean Games-Neely's office. Starcher could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, and is to be ordered to pay restitution and court costs as part of the deal.

andrews@herald-mail.com A jury was empaneled Monday in Washington County Circuit Court for the trial of a man accused of burning down his apartment building to collect insurance money. John A. Mitchell, 37, was living in an apartment at 38-40 Randolph Ave. in Hagerstown when it was damaged by fire on May 19, 2002. The prosecution alleges that Mitchell torched the building shortly after midnight and drove away, while the defense contends someone else is to blame.

gregs@herald-mail.com A jury is scheduled to begin deliberations this morning in the case of a Hampton, Va., man charged with arson in a 2002 fire at a Hagerstown apartment building. John A. Mitchell, 37, is charged with four counts of first-degree arson in the early morning fire at 38-40 Randolph Ave. on May 19, 2002. Mitchell had rented an apartment there. Attorneys for both the state and defense completed their closing arguments Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court before Judge John H. McDowell.

HAGERSTOWN An 18-year-old Clear Spring woman pleaded not criminally responsible Thursday to charges she set fire to a historic Williamsport building in August 2006. The case against Lauren Alexandria France was continued Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court pending the completion of a psychological evaluation that was ordered to determine if she is competent to stand trial. France, whose address is listed in charging documents as 11823 Orebank Road, is charged with second-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, second-degree malicious burning and other offenses in the Aug. 30, 2006, fire at 6 Springfield Lane, the former home of the town's founder.

HAGERSTOWN ? A Hagerstown man admitted that he set fire to his neighbor's mobile home last week after his wife refused to come home from there, a deputy state fire marshal said in charging documents. Ronald Lee Hoke, 30, of 13612 Lois St., was charged with first-degree arson, according to Washington County District court documents. Hoke told Deputy State Fire Marshal Michael R. Mattingly that, on Dec. 10, he set a pair of pants on fire, dropped them at the rear of his neighbor's mobile home and returned home to watch television, according to charging documents.

HAGERSTOWN -- A man who stole swords from the law office of Edward N. Button and then set the office on fire was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, for second-degree arson, Washington County Circuit Court documents show. Brian Beemer, 26, also got 15 years, with 10 years suspended, for a Nov. 21, 2008, robbery at PNC Bank on West Washington Street. The sentences are to be served consecutively. Beemer, formerly of 145 E. Franklin St., had a criminal record before the Nov. 24, 2008, fire, but was not one of Button's clients, the attorney said two days after the fire.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A 30-year-old man accused of attempting Tuesday to burn the mobile home where his children live with their mother told police after being captured he had just used heroin, according to court records. Eric Scott Hardy, of no fixed address, on Wednesday was in Eastern Regional Jail on charges of first-degree arson and fleeing while driving under the influence, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. A second DUI-related charge against Hardy was dropped by Berkeley County Sheriff's Department Lt. Gary Harmison after it was determined it was mistakenly filed as a felony and not as a misdemeanor, according to court officials.

A man has been charged with setting a fire that gutted a house Friday night at 6601 Remsburg Road near Antietam National Battlefield, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said Tuesday. Max Eugene Godlove, 50, was charged with one count each of first-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, reckless endangerment and threat of arson, according to a fire marshal's office news release. If convicted on all counts, Godlove faces a maximum of 50 years in prison and $70,000 in fines.