Two include 1st- and 2nd-degree arson.
Byron Alton Bowie )Photo from Frederick Police Department)
Frederick, Md (KM) A Frederick man faces 17 charges, including 1st- and 2nd-degree arson, following an incident last week. Byron Alton Bowie, 47, has been taken into custody.
Frederick Police say officers were dispatched to the 2200 block of Waller House Court on Friday, November 24th at 9:13 PM for a domestic incident after receiving a phone call from a resident. “The caller who reported a disturbance stated that he heard that neighbors were outside and they were engaged in an altercation. He believed that a male was locked out of the residence. The male who was on the back deck was heard yelling threats to burn everything down and to harm people,” says Frederick Police spokeswoman Samantha Long.
She says officers arriving on the scene noticed damage to a rear door, and heavy smoke coming from the residence. Fire fighters were dispatched. Police officers evacuated nearby town houses connected to the home on fire.
Long says patrol officers began interviewing witnesses and the homeowner whose residence sustained fire damage. She was not home at the time of the fire. “And it was determined that the homeowner observed a male known to her who was Byron Alton Bowie. And he approached the residence–and she saw this via her Ring doorbell. Bowie was observed breaking into the home just before the fire started,” she says
Police say Bowie was located nearby, wearing the exact same clothing as seen in the Ring doorbell footage. He was taken into custody without incident.
“We had the Frederick County Fire Marshal’s Office who came to the scene and led the investigation while the State Fire Marshal responded with a canine, and the canine did detect an accelerant inside the residence,” Long continues. “So it was determined that the suspect used an accelerant agent to start a fire inside of the home.”
In addition to 1st- and 2nd-degree arson, Bowie is also charged with:
*1st-degree malicious burning
* 2nd-degree malicious burning
*Arson Threat
*Home Invasion
*3rd-degree burglary
*4th-degree burglary of a dwelling
* nine counts of reckless endangerment
He is currently being held without bond.
By Kevin McManus