A former Maryland police chief has been indicted on charges of attempted murder and arson.
Former Laurel chief David Crawford is accused of setting fires across Prince George’s County, as well as in Montgomery and Howard counties.
Investigators identified Crawford as a suspect after they found that several fires across Maryland, which involved vehicles and dwellings, were connected.
In Prince George’s County, Crawford is accused of setting a 2011 fire on 12th Street in Laurel, as well as setting a fire in 2019 on Maple Terrace Lane that burned two vehicles, a garage and a home where four people were sleeping inside.
“The job of individuals in public safety is to serve and protect the public,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said. “When someone does not do that and breaks the public’s trust, he or she must be held accountable.”
Crawford was a police officer in Maryland in the 1970s. He retired from the Prince George’s County Police Department in 2000, then worked for the police department in District Heights and became Laurel’s police chief before he was asked to resign in 2010.
He has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree arson and other related offenses.
