Police have released the identity of the suspect taken into custody after setting fire to a Southeast D.C. apartment building twice within 24 hours.
Authorities took 53-year-old Michael Hawkins, of D.C., into custody after a second fire broke out at an apartment building in the 2100 block of Suitland Terrace in Southeast on Friday morning.
Hawkins was charged with arson.
A burning material, or accelerant, was thrown in an attack on a first floor apartment in the 2100 block of Suitland Terrace in Southeast, according to police.
Fire investigators continue their work at the arson fire on Suitland Terrace SE. Investigator Chris Somers and his partner Rosa, an accelerant sniffing K-9, check the area. #DCsBravest pic.twitter.com/RMvvfwMQFA
— DC Fire and EMS Department (@dcfireems) July 26, 2024
In a statement, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo said, “The second of the two fires caused significant damage to the apartment and took about a dozen units and 60 firefighters to bring under control.”
No injuries were sustained in the attack but four residents from the apartment were displaced and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross. Maggiolo said the people living in the apartment were staying elsewhere after the first attack and weren’t in the building Friday morning.
The first incident happened around 7 a.m. Thursday. The more serious attack happened Friday just before 9 a.m.
An accelerant-sniffing K-9 team was there Friday morning checking the area.
The Fire Investigation Unit worked with the fire department in the arrest.
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