Suspected Liquor Store Arsonist Charged from Riots

A Baltimore man was slated to appear in federal court Friday morning related to a liquor store arson during April’s riots that caused $350,000 in damage and sent one person to shock trauma, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Darius Raymond Stewart, 21, of Baltimore, has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with malicious destruction of a commercial building in the arson of Fireside North liquor store on April 27.

“Citizens need to know that the rule of law will be upheld, and criminals who destroy property and jeopardize lives will be held accountable,” U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement. “There are recordings and other evidence of people looting businesses, starting fires and attacking innocent victims, and it is our duty to prosecute the perpetrators.”

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Surveillance footage from inside the store in the 2200 block of West North Avenue showed a man wearing camouflage pants, a skull cap and dark jacket with orange lining intentionally setting multiple fires in the business, officials said.

Firefighters responded twice in half an hour to blazes at the liquor store on Monday, April 27, according to officials.

At 8:33 p.m. fire crews found a small trash can ablaze inside the store and at 8:54 p.m., were called again and extinguished another fire, at which time they found an unconscious person inside, according to the U.S. Attorney.

“The store’s owners reported that on the day of the incident a group of approximately 20 to 30 people entered the store and began banging on the bulletproof plexiglass window with pipes and crow bars before being chased off by a member of the community,” a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

During a second wave of approximately 150 people, rioters assaulted and robbed one of the store owners outside the store until he was rescued by police and treated for a head injury, the statement said; the second owner hid inside the building, and when he became aware of the fire, escaped through a back door and jumped from the roof, injuring his ankle and getting away in his vehicle, the statement said.

Firefighters responding to the second fire call at the store found a man unconscious in the basement, according to the statement. The 35-year-old said he was trying to find his brother, who was involved in the looting, as the building was on fire and filled with smoke, when he fell through a trap door into the basement. He was taken to shock trauma, where he remained for a week for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, the U.S. Attorney reported.

Damage to the Fireside North liquor store was estimated to be $350,000, according to the report.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a flier showing the suspected arsonist and a offering a $10,000 reward for information, and confidential sources at the scene identified him as Stewart, the report said.

Officials said Stewart was arrested on Sept. 28 on unrelated state charges.

The federal charge of malicious destruction of a commercial building carries a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, officials reported.

“ATF has continuously stated that we would focus our investigative efforts to ensure that the individuals who set these fires across our city would be caught,” ATF Special Agent in Charge William P. McMullan said Thursday. “Today’s arrest is another example of ATF’s commitment to holding people responsible for their violent actions.”

Arson suspect flier from the ATF.