'He's going to set the house on fire' Man charged with setting fire to Linthicum apartment building

'He's going to set the house on fire'

Man charged with setting fire to Linthicum apartment building

By Ben Weathers

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When Esther Beach left her Linthicum apartment around 9 a.m. Saturday she was met by the sight of police.

She said residents of the four-story apartment building called them to report one of Beach's neighbors on the fourth floor allegedly set fire to a grill and a bicycle in a wooded area near the rear of the property. Residents asked police to arrest 38-year- old Brian Priessler, Beach said.

"I told the cops, 'He's going to set the house on fire,'" Beach said.

Despite their pleas, she said, police said there was nothing they could do and left.

About two hours later, the building was in flames, causing some $500,000 in damage and leaving more than a dozen people without a home. Anne Arundel County fire investigators charged Preissler with first- and second-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, reckless endangerment and destruction of property.

As of Tuesday morning, he was being held at Jennifer Road Detention Center in Parole on $150,000 bail, according to online court records, and was unavailable for comment on the charges.

Lt. Ryan Frashure, a police spokesman, confirmed officers responded to the address around 8:40 a.m. Saturday for a report of Preissler acting disorderly. Although officers saw a small fire pit on the property, Preissler was coherent and told the officers he didn't intend to harm anybody.

"Unfortunately, at that time, they didn't have anything they could lock him up for or take him in for an emergency evaluation for," Frashure said.

Firefighters were called to the wood-frame apartment building on West Maple Road at about 11:10 a.m. The first units found heavy fire damage to the rear of the second, third and fourth stories, fire officials said.

The fire was escalated to second alarm status, bringing 45 firefighters to the scene, including units from Baltimore City, Baltimore and Howard counties, and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

It took about three hours to bring the fire under control. The blaze was determined to be arson, fire officials said.

The building contains nine apartments, six of which are occupied. Nine people escaped from the fire.

All together, nine adults and five children were displaced from six apartments at the building and are being assisted by the Red Cross.

Although there were no civilian injuries, two firefighters were taken to a hospital with minor injuries and were released later than evening, fire officials said.

The building is zoned for residential and commercial use. Office space on its basement floor was unoccupied at the time of the fire, according to court records.

A fire investigator spoke to three occupants who reported smoke coming from Preissler's apartment. Others reported hearing Preissler make incriminating statements from inside his apartment, according to court records.

Occupants quoted Preissler in court documents as saying, "(d)on't worry, the fire is confined to my apartment and won't spread anywhere else, I did that on purpose when I lit it," and "I set it to be contained."

Residents reported that Preissler was laughing and described his demeanor as "excited," "happy" and "flippant," according to court records.

Preissler also allegedly told firefighters he started the fire with a flare gun, court records state.

The 38-year-old was taken into police custody at the scene and taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie for an emergency evaluation. He was formally charged and arrested the following day, according to court records.

Beach and her boyfriend, Hooverlay Rodas, said Preissler's behavior has grown increasingly erratic in recent weeks after he wentthrough a breakup. He had given himself a "ridiculous haircut," shaving the sides of his head and was awake all hours of the night, Beach and Rodas said.

Neither Beach nor Rodas were home at the time of the fire. The couple lives with Rodas' oldest son, age 22.

The son was sleeping at the apartment with a girlfriend when they were awakened by smoke detectors, Rodas said.

Rodas arrived back home after getting a call from his son at work informing him about the fire.

Rodas, Beach and his son are now staying at a hotel, he said.

"I was angry," Rodas said. "Now, I'm just glad my son was out and OK and nobody got hurt."

Rodas said he has insurance and isn't too concerned about his possessions lost in the fire - other than pictures and family movies of his son and his two younger children, ages 16 and 17, who live with their mother.

"I have pictures and stuff I'll never get back," he said.

Capt. Russ Davies, a fire department spokesman, said the building was not equipped with sprinklers. Davies could not say whether all of the apartments were equipped with smoke detectors.

Preissler's criminal history includes convictions in 2008 for malicious destruction of property and trespassing. In 2013, he was found guilty of violating a protection order, according to online court records.

He is scheduled to appear in District Court in Glen Burnie on Nov. 2 on a second-degree assault charge, according to online court records.

This has been a particularly deadly year for fires in the county - 10 people have lost their lives. That's just two shy of the dozen fire fatalities in the last three years combined.

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Staff Writer Tim Pratt contributed to this story.

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