From
The Capital (HometownAnnapolis.com):
A Baltimore man faces up to 25 years in prison for torching his nephew's Pasadena home and two of his cars nearly a year ago, county fire officials said.
Charles Earnest Maynard, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this month in county Circuit Court to second-degree arson and manufacturing and using a destructive device, said Battalion Chief Matthew Tobia, county Fire Department spokesman.
County police arrested Maynard last summer after a six-month investigation into the February arson on Bodkin View Drive. Chief Tobia said police used
DNA evidence left at the scene to link the arson to Maynard.
It's the first time county investigators have used DNA evidence in an arson case, he said.
"This is a huge case for us," Chief Tobia said. "It signals that we're really raising the bar. Frequently, fire destroys a lot of the evidence, but in these case, we were able to collect DNA from the scene and use advanced techniques to match it (to Maynard)."
Investigators discovered the DNA in a bottle that was used for an unexploded Molotov cocktail they found at the scene.
The arson happened around 2 a.m. on Feb. 10. Police were called to the 7800 block of Bodkin View Drive near Bayside Beach for a reported vehicle fire. When crews arrived on scene, they found a 2006 Chevrolet Impala and a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta on fire. The home nearby also was burning.
"What happened is he lit one car on fire, and that fire spread to another car and then to the house," Chief Tobia said.
Police also learned later that morning that there were three other vehicles on the street with broken windows. One of those vehicles had a Molotov cocktail lying on the driver's seat.
Investigators brought an accelerant-sniffing dog to the scene and were able to confirm the presence of a flammable liquid in the device and in one of the cars damaged in the fire. The water bottle used for the cocktail also had traces of Maynard's DNA.
Damage totaled nearly $26,000, police said.