David Crawford (Prince George’s County Fire:EMS Department and YouTube screengrabs)
A 74-year-old former police chief in Maryland was sentenced to decades behind bars for setting fire to more than a dozen properties belonging to perceived rivals and enemies, including his own stepson, on three occasions.
David Crawford pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of first-degree arson and one count of second-degree arson, Montgomery County State Attorney John McCarthy said at a press conference. A judge sentenced him to 55 years in prison. This is on top of the eight life sentences plus 75 years he received back in 2023 for fires set in Howard County.
The fires in Montgomery County occurred in 2016, 2017 and 2020 at Crawford’s stepson’s home in Clarksburg.
“It’s a shocking development for a man who spent his life protecting individuals,” said McCarthy.
Crawford’s stepson Justin Scherstrom said the fires “caused my family a lot of distress over the years.” Scherstrom couldn’t pinpoint what angered his stepfather. He said he tagged any disagreements as typical family “bickering.”
“It was devastating,” he told reporters. “I mean, this is someone that I knew intimately for over 30 years.”
The defendant targeted other people because he believed they slighted him in some way.
“If you fired him, you’d be a target,” said McCarthy. “If he had a dispute with you over some school board matter, you would become a target.”
In all, he set 13 fires across several Maryland counties for nearly a decade until his arrest in 2021. McCarthy said it was important for his office to secure a guilty plea should the other case be overturned on appeal.
As Law&Crime previously reported, due to several of the sentences being served concurrently, Crawford’s “actual executable prison sentence” is two terms of life plus 75 years, according to a press release from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Howard County.
Though no one was killed in any of the fires set by Crawford, many — including young children — were forced to flee their homes in the middle of the night to avoid the flames and lost nearly all of their personal possessions.
“After careful consideration of the state’s recommendation, arguments and victim impact statements, Judge Bernhardt delivered a sentence today that we believe is wholly appropriate for the defendant’s crimes,” State’s Attorney Richard Gibson said in a statement following the proceedings. “The horror and nature of arson is so deeply powerful in its impact and complete in its destruction in the victim’s peace of mind that it is only fitting the defendant spend the rest of his natural life behind bars.”
The 2023 sentencing came after a Howard County jury earlier that year found Crawford guilty on eight counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree arson and one count of first-degree malicious burning for fires set in that jurisdiction between 2017 and 2018. He was first arrested in March 2021.
In total, Crawford is accused of intentionally starting fires in six counties that targeted a former City of Laurel official, three former law enforcement officials, including a former City of Laurel Police Chief, two relatives, two of Crawford’s chiropractors, and a resident in his neighborhood.
“Investigators linked multiple cases following a 2020 fire when they discovered Crawford had previous disagreements with multiple victims,” the release states. “In January 2021, a search of Crawford’s residence found several pieces of evidence, including a list of targets that were known victims.”
Crawford previously served as chief of the Laurel Police Department from 2006 until he tendered his resignation in 2010. Prior to his stint as chief, Crawford worked for the Prince George’s County Police Department and the District Heights Police Department.
At trial, prosecutors showed jurors surveillance video from several of the scenes where Crawford lit fires. In those instances, Crawford can be seen displaying a “similar pattern” of using gasoline as an accelerant to set the blazes.
The first fire was allegedly set in Prince George’s County in 2011, during which he was allegedly caught on surveillance tape torching an unoccupied vehicle before accidentally setting himself on fire and fleeing the scene.
“These families have waited several years for justice and we are grateful to play some part in delivering that for them,” Gibson said. “It is particularly egregious that someone who dedicated their life to law enforcement and was the chief of police at some point in their career would take it upon themselves to engage in conduct that was evil and terrifying in its nature. This sentence should send a message that prosecutors are capable of holding law enforcement accountable if they violate our laws.”
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report
