CALVERT MAN ARRESTED IN AUTO FIRE SPREE

          PRINCE FREDERICK (September 21, 2006)  -- Deputy State Fire Marshals have arrested a Calvert County man in connection with a series of eleven auto fires that occurred between September of 2005 and July of 2006.  Christopher A. Gasch, age 26 of Owings, MD, was arrested today without incident and charged with multiple counts of second degree arson and malicious burning in the first degree.  Gasch remains incarcerated at the Calvert County Detention Center awaiting an appearance before a District Court Commissioner.

          The investigation of the fires began on September 18, 2005 when a 2002 Ford Explorer was destroyed in Owings.  Over the next several months, additional vehicle fires were investigated and Deputy State Fire Marshals determined each to have been deliberately ignited.  On July 20, 2006, a burned 2003 Acura owned by the defendant was found on Old Bayside Road in Chesapeake Beach. Information developed by Deputy State Fire Marshals during the spree and statements from the defendant led them to identify Gasch as a suspect.  Further investigation and interviews with the defendant implicated him as having been responsible for igniting the series of fires. A motive for the blazes remains unclear.