June 10th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

ALLEGANY COUNTY, MD (June 9, 2023) – A Cumberland man faces three separate malicious  destruction of property charges after a trash fire he set caused nearly $5,000 in damages to nearby property in April.

Samad Jabri Waller, 36, was charged after a joint investigation between Office of the State Fire Marshal, Cumberland Police Department, and the Cumberland Fire Marshals Office identified Waller as the person who started the fire.

On April 15, 2023, at 2:00 a.m. Cumberland Fire and Police Departments responded to a report of furniture on fire in front of 701-703 Maryland Avenue. Firefighters extinguished the fire within minutes, and patrol officers later obtained video footage of a person, identified as Waller, setting a garbage can on fire which subsequently spread to discarded furniture. The fire caused extensive damage to a nearby 2018 Kia Soul at around $3,500. A window and internet phone line also sustained extensive damage totaling just over $1,000 between the two.

Two days later, Deputy State Fire Marshals canvassed the area and located Waller, who was still wearing the same clothing that investigators had saw in the video footage earlier. After initially denying he had set the fire, Waller told investigators he had set the fire because a person had stolen his bike earlier in the evening. Investigators released Waller, and an arrest warrant was obtained for one count of malicious destruction of property over $1,000 and two for under $1,000.

Waller was arrested on Monday by troopers assigned to the Cumberland barrack. Waller was initially held without bail after appearing before a District Court Commissioner; however, he was released after a District Court bail review and posted a $5,000 unsecured bond.