Maryland police chief who allegedly committed a string of arsons arrested

A former police chief in Maryland is facing more than a dozen attempted murder charges after it was alleged that he had targeted his enemies with arson on at least 12 occasions over the last decade.

David M Crawford, the police chief of Laurel, Maryland, was arrested and charged on Wednesday.

The arson attempts reportedly began in 2011, with the most recent occurring late last year. The fires took place in Prince George's, Howard, Frederick, Montgomery and Charles counties. Police only uncovered the link between the 12 arsons following the most recent fire, which happened in Clarksburg last November.

A surveillance video of the last video caught the image of someone running around in the middle of the night dumping an accelerant onto the ground outside a person's property. Investigators believe the individual in the video is Mr Crawford.