A federal court sentenced a Baltimore rioter to five years in prison for setting fire to a liquor store.
Darius Stewart, 22, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison and fined $378,526 after pleading guilty to rioting and arson after Freddy Gray’s funeral, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
“Surveillance cameras recorded Darius Stewart setting fire to a store with people inside, while other rioters viciously attacked the store owner,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “When the evidence proves that criminals destroyed property and jeopardized lives, they must be held accountable.”
Authorities said that two of the store’s owners were inside when the rioters attacked. A community member was able to chase off the first wave of 20 to 30 rioters and defend the store.(RELATED: Baltimore Bouncer Protects Store With MASSIVE Machete Because ‘I Can’t Pull Out A Shotgun’)
The second wave of around 150 rioters hit the store, broke in and looted it. One of the owners was repeatedly assaulted outside the store, according to Baltimore CitiWatch surveillance footage. Stewart then lit two fires inside the store when the second owner fled to the second floor.
When the Baltimore City Fire Department extinguished at the fire at the liquor store, they found an unconscious person in the basement who had to be hospitalized.
Stewart is the fifth person to be sentenced for arson committed during the Baltimore riots in April, 2015. Raymon Carter, 25, pleaded guilty to rioting and the infamous arson of the CVS Pharmacy. He was sentenced to four years and fined $500,000.
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