LAUREL — A former Laurel Police Chief has been indicted on several charges, including attempted first degree murder, for setting incendiary fires across Maryland.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy announced the indictment of David Crawford, a former Laurel Police Chief.
He has been charged with attempted first degree murder, first degree arson, and lesser related offenses.
In 2019, investigators began to link fires across Maryland involving vehicles, homes and other structures which were similar in nature.
Ultimately, Crawford was developed as a suspect. In Prince George’s County, Crawford allegedly set a car on fire in 2011 on 12th Street in Laurel.
He is also charged with setting a fire in 2019 on Maple Terrace in Laurel that burned two vehicles, a detached garage, and the home, which had four people sleeping inside.
Crawford has also been linked to fires in Montgomery and Howard Counties and other jurisdictions. They have all been deemed incendiary in nature, meaning there were no accidental sources found in the area of the fire.
“The job of individuals in public safety is to serve and protect the public,” said State’s Attorney Braveboy. “When someone does not do that and breaks the public’s trust he or she must be held accountable and my office is here to do just that. It doesn’t matter who the perpetrator is or what position the individual holds.”
Crawford was a police officer in Maryland beginning in the 1970s. He retired from the Prince George’s County Police Department as a Major in 2000.
Subsequently, he worked for the police department in District Heights and ultimately, became the Police Chief in Laurel and was asked to resign from Laurel in 2010.
