ROCKLAND — A 19-year-old South Thomaston man and a juvenile have been charged with setting a fire last month that heavily damaged a residential garage in Rockland.
Hendrix Hallowell was arrested Wednesday, June 19, by a state fire marshal investigator and charged with Class A arson and Class C burglary. Information on the arrest of the 17-year-old man is not available, because he is a juvenile.
The fire occurred May 30 at the Camden Street Terrace property of Susie Gray.
The garbage pickup man for the neighborhood discovered the fire and later told state fire marshal investigator Ken MacMaster that he saw two young men walking away from the building, according to an affidavit filed in Knox County Court by the Fire Marshal’s Office. The witness said he noticed the main door to the garage was partly open, which was unusual, and when he got nearer he noticed flames around some rags inside the garage.
The fire spread quickly, but was put out by firefighters, who stopped it from spreading to the nearby house.
An investigation by the state Fire Marshal’s Office and Rockland police, using video footage from nearby businesses and interviews with witnesses, led to the identification of Hendrix and the second youth.
Hendrix claimed in a June 13 interview with police that they were inside the garage and the other youth lit a piece of foam on fire and they left the garage. Hendrix was in custody at that time on unrelated charges.
Hendrix had said they had been in the garage at another time as well, because he was looking for a place to sleep.
Hendrix was also charged with criminal trespass, theft and violating a condition of release in an unrelated case. He is being held without bail pending his initial court appearance on the charges, likely to be held Friday afternoon, June 21, in Knox County Court.
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