A former police chief in Maryland has received eight life sentences after being convicted in March of 12 felony charges including multiple counts of attempted-first-degree murder and arson.
David Crawford, the former police chief for the city of Laurel, received eight life sentences plus 75 years after prosecutors successfully argued the 71-year-old had intentionally set fires to people’s homes, garages, and cars over the “slightest of grudges,” CBS News Baltimore reported. (RELATED: Pupil Suspected Of Setting Fire To Guyana School, Killing 19, Over ‘Confiscated Phone’: Reports)
“As opposed to protecting and serving and living a life of honor and respect, keeping our community safe, he chose to inflict harm, he chose violence, he chose fear,” Howard County State’s Attorney Richard Gibson stated, according to WBALTV.
Former Laurel Police Chief David Crawford sentenced in arson cases https://t.co/BKMf4NrxLW
— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) June 27, 2023
Prosecutors state Crawford’s arson spree began in Prince George’s County in 2011 and later in Howard County in 2017-2018. The fires, all deemed incendiary, were linked to Crawford after investigators found “very strong circumstantial” evidence using cellphone data, relationships, computer searches and a target list discovered on Crawford’s phone, CBS News Baltimore reported. All of the victims in the arson fires appeared to have been individuals with whom Crawford or his wife Mary had had previous disagreements with, the outlet stated.
“I think there is true evil in the world and I think this is an example of that,” Gibson stated of the case, according to CBS News Baltimore.
The judge seemed to agree with Gibson’s assessment of the case, noting two instances he found particularly disturbing: a vanity license plate on Crawford’s vehicle that shared the same name as the brand of gasoline used in the arson fires; and Crawford’s insistence of contacting the victims after the arson to see how they were doing, WBALTV reported.
“Contacting the victims to find out, ‘Hey, how’s it going? How’re you doing?’ when he caused the suffering just shows a real indifference to human pain. It is despicable, and it shows someone who has an evil intent,” Gibson remarked, according to the outlet. “It’s not just losing your home. It’s losing the baby blankets, things you’ve worked on.”
Though Crawford was officially sentenced to eight life terms, many of his sentences are concurrent, bringing his actual executable prison sentence to two life sentences, plus 75 years, CBS News Baltimore reported. In any case, Crawford is “not likely to breathe free air again,” Gibson observed, according to WBALTV.