Arson

Authorities are investigating an attempted arson Monday at a home in the 11200 block of Gehr Road in Big Pool, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said Tuesday. The incident occurred at about 3:15 p.m. Monday, when someone allegedly burglarized a home at 11212 Gehr Road and put a flammable liquid in the kitchen in an attempt to ignite the vapors with the stove, according to a fire marshal¿s office press release. No one was injured, the release said.

A man accused of setting fire to a vacant duplex in Martinsburg last year was sentenced Monday to serve as many as 71 years in prison for the arson and a string of other crimes committed in Berkeley County about a year ago. Joshua D. Stevens, 31, was sentenced by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III after entering Alford pleas to 10 misdemeanor and felony charges, including arson, burglary, robbery, breaking and entering, and forgery...

— A woman accused in a string of crimes last year, including the arson of a vacant duplex in Martinsburg, was sentenced Monday in Berkeley County Circuit Court to two to 15 years in prison. Falon S. Mauck, 26, who pleaded guilty to one count of forgery of a credit card and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, and no contest to breaking and entering of an automobile, also was ordered to pay more than $32,000 in restitution. The plea was part of a binding agreement accepted by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who noted Mauck had little criminal history prior to the crime spree.

A Virginia man who was indicted last month on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the deaths of a Berkeley County woman and her young son pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges in circuit court, according to court records. In an arraignment hearing, Antonio Prophet, 34, of Lorton, Va., said “yes, sir” when asked by presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes if he agreed to waive his right to a trial in the February term of court.

A 13-year-old boy was charged Tuesday with arson in a two-alarm duplex fire that officials said almost killed a girl. The boy was placed in the custody of the Franklin County (Pa.) Juvenile Probation Department on charges including arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Jeff Sarver said the child used lighter fluid Monday to ignite the back porch of 270 Lincoln Way West. A 14-year-old girl who suffered smoke inhalation was recovering at a Baltimore hospital, Sarver said.

A man accused of setting fire to a vacant duplex in Martinsburg last year could be sentenced to 71 years in prison for the alleged arson and a string of other crimes. A plea agreement that would settle the case against Joshua Daniel Stevens, 31, is pending before 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who is expected to review the terms of the deal between Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely’s office and defense attorney Ron Rossi. Silver scheduled a hearing for March 28 to consider the plea and possibly to sentence Stevens.

Nearly six months after fire destroyed three row houses in Clear Spring, the structures have new ownership but little else has changed. "I've inherited a mess," said Donald Bragunier, who bought the homes under the name Cumberland Street LLC. In November, Bragunier purchased the homes at 111, 113 and 115 Cumberland St. for what he said was a little bit of nothing. "They practically gave them to me," he said. He paid $10,000 for all three properties, according to online documents at the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation.

A Williamsport man has been charged with second-degree attempted arson and multiple related charges in connection with the attempted burning of a dwelling in the 13100 block of St. Paul Road in Clear Spring on Jan. 8, according to the Maryland Fire Marshal's Office. A joint investigation by the fire marshals office, Maryland State Police and the Washington County Sheriff's Office led to the charges against Michael D. Commer, 43, a news release from the fire marshal's office said. Investigators believe Commer was responsible for causing damage to the dwelling and pouring an accelerant inside and near the dwelling before being apprehended by sheriff's deputies, according to the release.

A Hagerstown man has been charged with setting a fire Saturday at his girlfriend’s home on Antietam Drive, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said Monday. Jeffrey Myerly, 52, is charged with one count each of first-degree arson and first-degree malicious burning, and two counts of malicious destruction of property, according to a fire marshal’s office news release. The fire marshal’s office alleged that Myerly entered the home of Donna Repp at 521A Antietam Drive in Hagerstown at about 9 p.m. Saturday and placed combustibles on the stove burners.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A former volunteer firefighter accused of starting a large barn fire in which another volunteer firefighter was seriously injured faces up to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement reached in Berkeley County Circuit Court. James L. Blackford III, 31, agreed to plead guilty under Alford circumstances to one count of first-degree arson and one count of causing serious injury during an arson-related crime, Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely told 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III in a scheduled pretrial hearing.