He tried to firebomb his ex-girlfriend’s home.
Greenbelt, Md (KM) It’s off to prison for a Silver Spring who attempted to firebomb his ex-girlfriend’s home. In US District Court in Greenbelt on Monday, Darius Wilder, 41, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison. After he gets out, Wilder will be placed on five-years supervised release.
Federal prosecutors say Wilder constructed two Molotov cocktails, and tried to set his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Gaithersburg on fire on April 15th, 2017. “What was truly remarkable about this is that he constructed two Molotov cocktails and threw them up on the balcony of his ex-girlfriend’s residence, where she lived with her three children. And God only knows what could have happened if one of the firebombs had actually landed inside. It could set the entire apartment building on fire. Thank God that did not happen,” says Robert K. Hur, the US Attorney for Maryland.
Instead, one of the Molotov cocktails landed on the balcony, and damaged the wooden decking and some children’s bicycles.
On August 16th, 2018, Wilder was convicted of committing arson, and using, carrying and possessing a destructive device during and in the furtherance of a crime of violence.
Hur says the federal government was able to bring all of resources together to bring about a conviction. “The FBI assisted in this investigation through its ability to analyze cell phone records. And that evidence was introduced at trial showing that Mr. Wilder was in the vicinity of the apartment when the firebombs were thrown,” he says. The other agency which assisted was the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, also known as AFT. “They are experts in arson reconstruction and arson investigation,” Hur continues.
This case is a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program which brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safe for everyone, says the us Attorney’s Office.
By Kevin McManus