Car Fire On Train Tracks Deliberately Set: Officials

JOPPATOWN, MD — A Baltimore man has been arrested by state fire marshals in connection to a vehicle fire that caused train traffic to come to a complete halt Dec. 19, 2025.

At 2:45 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2025, Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company responded to a vehicle fire along the CSX railroad track near the 1100 block of Joppa Road. They found a 2010 Cadillac SRX engulfed in flames. The Office of the State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate and deputies determined that the vehicle fire had been intentionally set.

Firefighters requested that train traffic stop for several hours while they extinguished the fire and investigators examined the scene. During the investigation, Darnell Anthony Brown, 53, told investigators that he was abducted and his vehicle was stolen; however, deputy state fire marshals gathered evidence that refuted his claims.

Brown was arrested later at his Baltimore City home and taken to the Harford County Detention Center. He was charged with second-degree arson, malicious burning, first-degree malicious burning/fraud, obstructing railroad operations, false statement to an officer and trespassing on posted property. Brown was appeared before a District Court Commissioner and was later released on a $20,000 bond.