From the Office of the State Fire Marshal:
Up to a $10,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect involved with these fires.
Deputy State Fire Marshals are seeking help from the public to assist with locating information concerning two fires inside the Denny’s Restaurant located at 1803 Edgewood Road in Edgewood, Harford County.
Two fires occurring on July 4th and August 3rd of 2012 remain under investigation at this time. The first fire, at approximately 8:45 a.m. on July 4th, occurred inside the trash can in the men’s restroom. Damages were minimal and contained to the trash can. It was initially believed to be accidental by management and fire service response was not requested. The fire at 10:20 a.m. on August 3rd involved the entire structure. Investigators determined the fire originated inside the men’s restroom before spreading upward and through the roof. The structure received extensive damage resulting in approximately $500,000 in damages. The restaurant was occupied by several staff and customers during both incidents.
Video surveillance revealed the same person of interest was observed entering and leaving the area of the men’s room at the time of each fire. The unidentified person of interest is a white male, approximately six feet in height with light or grayish colored hair. In both incidents he wore a dark colored ball cap. On the July 4th incident, he was wearing a yellow colored shirt and light colored khaki style shorts. On the August 3rd incident, he was wearing an orange colored shirt, dark colored shorts and sunglasses. It is believed he left the parking lot in a dark colored two or four-door sedan.
The attached pictures and videos were excerpted from the video surveillance system located at the restaurant. The attached video is provided for additional identification purposes of the suspect. The right side of the screen reveals the suspect from both July wearing a yellow shirt and August wearing an orange shirt as he is going toward the bathroom and leaving the restaurant.
Mutual Benefit Insurance Company is responsible for providing the reward for arrest and conviction of the suspect responsible for the fire.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal requests those living in the community and anyone passing through to contact our office with any information about these incidents. Please contact the Northeast Regional Office of the State Fire Marshal at 410-836-4844 or the Arson Hotline at 1-800-492-7529.
You need to find them 2 old men sitting there eating breakfast, why would they be there at the same exact spots and a month after the first incident happened at 2 different hours of the day. Seems fishy.
According to Deputy State Fire Marshal Bruce Bouch, the two men were “regulars” at the restaurant, and aren’t believed to have any connection to the fires.