A former Maryland police chief was sentenced on Monday to eight life sentences and an additional 75 years in prison for committing a series of arsons against people he believed had wronged him, prosecutors said.
Retired Laurel Police Chief David Crawford was found guilty in March of 12 felony charges, including eight counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of arson and one count of malicious burning, in a series of arson attacks across Maryland from 2011 to 2020.
According to charging documents, Maryland investigators began linking a number of fires targeting vehicles, homes and other buildings to Crawford in 2019.
“As investigators began to look into Mr. Crawford, the link between the fires became clear,” the charging document said. “All of the victims are family members or individuals with known ties to the suspect or his wife, Mary Crawford.”
Police executed a search of Crawford’s home in January 2021, and digital forensics experts found search history and documents including a “target list” of all the known victims whose property had been set ablaze.
According to charging documents, the first arson occurred on May 28, 2011, with video showing Crawford “staging items” behind a car, pouring gasoline over it, then lighting a large stick wrapped in cloth and setting the car ablaze. It was destroyed in the fire.
The car belonged to Marty Flemion, who was then the Laurel deputy city administrator and did not have a good work relationship with Crawford, police said.
Crawford’s next recorded victim was Richard McLaughlin, who was the deputy chief of the Laurel Police Department when Crawford was the chief.
McLaughlin told investigators that there was “animosity” between him and Crawford after McLaughlin was promoted to chief when Crawford was asked to retire.
According to the charging document, video surveillance footage shows Crawford setting fire to McLaughlin’s home on March 16, 2019, in the middle of the night as McLaughlin and his family were asleep.
Authorities said Crawford knew the family was home and meant to kill them with the fire.
“There was no reason the suspect would assume the victims’ home was vacant at the time he set the fire that damaged the occupied home,” the document said. “The victims’ vehicles were parked in the driveway of the home and the suspect walked between them when he started the fire.”
Crawford was later identified in surveillance video at the scene, and the search of his electronics found a PowerPoint presentation with slides containing McLaughlin’s address, phone number, family members, an aerial view of the home and tax records, along with with a calendar entry on Crawford’s phone titled “McLaughlin Fire” on the date of the arson.
Other victims included Crawford’s stepson, with whom he had a “strained” relationship, as well as the family of his chiropractor, Dr. Russel Antico, authorities said, and the family of Evelyn Henderson, who had a dispute with him over the leadership of a neighborhood group, the St. John’s Community Association.
According to the charging document, Crawford set fire to the Hendersons’ home on a night in December 2017 while the family was asleep; they all managed to escape. He then set fire to their yard as the home was being rebuilt in August 2018 following the first fire.
Henderson told investigators that Crawford immediately called her after the first house fire, asking questions about the cause and who her insurance company was.
Crawford also set fire to the home of former deputy chief Clark “Bud” Price of the Prince George’s County Police Department in April 2018. Years earlier, Price recommended another police officer over Crawford to fill in as chief of police, and as Crawford was applying to be chief of the Laurel Police Department, Price told an interviewer seeking a reference that Crawford lacked loyalty, he told investigators.
Crawford also targeted Alphonso Hawkins Sr., who was the former interim police chief in Prince George’s County. Authorities said he may have been blamed for Crawford losing out on a promotion.
In a news release, Maryland State Attorney Richard Gibson called Crawford’s sentencing appropriate for the crimes he committed.
“The horror and nature of arson is so deeply powerful in its impact and complete in its destruction in the victim’s peace of mind that it is only fitting the defendant spend the rest of his natural life behind bars,” Gibson said.
“These families have waited several years for justice, and we are grateful to play some part in delivering that for them,” Gibson added. “It is particularly egregious that someone who dedicated their life to law enforcement and was the chief of police at some point in their career would take it upon themselves to engage in conduct that was evil and terrifying in its nature.”
Robert Bonsib, Crawford’s attorney, argued in court that his client deserved a maximum sentence of only 28 years in prison, local news outlet WBAL reported.
“Mr. Crawford spent a couple of decades serving the community as a law enforcement officer. This is a sad and a tragic ending for him,” Bonsib said.
According to WBAL, when given a chance to speak before his sentencing, Crawford did not apologize or admit guilt for the crimes he was convicted of.
“With God, all things are possible,” Crawford said.
Quinn Henderson, Evelyn Henderson’s daughter, said she would be moving on with her life and did not believe Crawford’s statement in court, she told WBAL.
“I thought it was all BS, honestly. I thought it was all a load of you know what,” Henderson said. “His mention of God was so hypocritical when he literally ruined a bunch of people’s lives.”