ELKTON, Md. — A fire outside a house on St. Pats Circle in Elkton just after midnight destroyed two vehicles.
“It was a loud ‘boom’ is what we were told, so that is very consistent with possibly a Molotov cocktail,” said Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire, who added a couple with a young child live inside the home. “They have no idea what could have possibly or who possibly could have started this fire. They have no bad blood. They have no animosity between anyone. There’s been no encounters between anyone, so this is truly a case of we just don’t know who did it.”
What investigators do have is surveillance video from a neighbor’s Ring camera showing two people running away after the blast.
Molotov cocktail suspected in Elkton vehicle arsons; Surveillance video shows two people running from the scene
“Right now, our investigators believe that it is possibly two juveniles just because of the description of them,” said Alkire, “They appeared in all black, dark clothing, along with hoodies around their face.”
The seemingly random nature of the crime has raised an alarm among neighbors.
“I’ve lived here 33 years at this house and nothing like that has ever happened before,” said Ted Paugh.
The incident has exposed a vulnerability rarely considered in the neighborhood---that any resident’s vehicle could become the next target.
“Some houses have garages, as you’ve seen. Most of us just park on a street or in our driveway. That’s pretty well it,” said Paugh.
“So that’s not much you could do if they hit again?”
“No. Not much, and they could… the way these streets are, they could go a pretty good distance and knock off several cars and be out of here pretty quickly.”
If you recognize the people in that video, investigators are asking you to call them at 410-386-3050.
