A Virginia man pleaded guilty to setting fire to the cars and home of the parents of a woman he had previously been convicted of stalking.
In Loudoun County Circuit Court on Thursday, Julian Darius Karapetkov pleaded guilty to two offenses related to a 2022 house fire in Sterling.
Karapetkov was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder by arson, burning or destroying a house, burning or destroying property worth more than $1,000 and stalking in September 2022, but has pleaded guilty to two charges of burning or destroying personal property.
Loudoun County Fire and Rescue said it received a call for a house fire on Whittingham Circle in Sterling at about 4 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2022. Loudoun and Fairfax County firefighters arrived to find two cars on fire in the driveway and fire coming from the front of the house.
The two residents of the home were able to escape uninjured and firefighters extinguished the fire quickly, but not before an estimated $200,000 of damages had already been done. Fire investigators found evidence that an accelerant was used to set the cars and house on fire.
Karapetkov was arrested by the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Fire Marshal’s Office eight days later.
A 19-year-old George Mason University student at the time, Karapetkov had previously been found guilty of stalking the daughter of the fire victims earlier that same year, according to WUSA9.
Karapetkov is being held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond.
His sentencing hearing will take place in July 2024.
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