18-Year-Old Faces Charges For Setting Bathroom Fire At Mall: Official

BEL AIR, MD — An 18-year-old Bel Air man has been arrested in connection to the fire that was set in a restroom at the Harford Mall Sunday.

Just before 5:30 p.m., the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Department and Bel Air Police Department were called to the Harford Mall for a report of a fire inside a restroom. When firefighters arrived, they found that mall security officers had extinguished a fire inside the men's restroom. They requested the Office of the State Fire Marshal to investigate.

Investigators determined that a hand soap dispenser had been set on fire and, with the assistance of the Bel Air Police Department, officials identified Gabriel E. Wallace, 18, of Bel Air, as the suspect.

Wallace has been charged with first- and second-degree arson, malicious burning, second-degree and malicious destruction of property less than $1,000. Wallace was taken to the Harford County Detention and later released on his recognizance.