A teen suspected of intentionally setting a fire at the Columbia mall last month and seven other fires in Columbia was indicted on 12 criminal charges June 6, according to Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the state's attorney's office.
Richard N. Mojica, 18, of the 10300 block of Swift Stream Place, was indicted on seven counts of arson, four counts of first-degree malicious burning and one count of reckless endangerment, according to Kirwan.
In charging documents, police say Mojica has admitted to setting eight fires in downtown Columbia in the span of three weeks, including an early-morning fire on May 3 in a trailer attached to the Sears loading dock at the mall. That fire was put out quickly but left extensive smoke damage inside the store, closing it for two days.
Mojica was arrested May 6. He is being held at the Howard County Detention Center on $500,000 bond, according Kirwan.
In charging documents, police say Mojica has admitted to setting eight fires in downtown Columbia in the span of three weeks, including an early-morning fire on May 3 in a trailer attached to the Sears loading dock at the mall. That fire was put out quickly but left extensive smoke damage inside the store, closing it for two days.
The fires occurred on April 19 in the 10300 block of Swift Stream Place, in which burning paper was found in an apartment complex stairwell; April 30 in the 10400 block of Swift Stream Place, in which a trash bin fire also charred a nearby building, causing more than $5,000 in damage; April 30 in the 10400 block of Swift Stream Place, this one not spreading beyond the trash bin in which it was set; May 1 in the 10200 block of Little Patuxent Parkway at the Howard Hughes Corp. building in Columbia, where a fire was set in a trash can.
Other fires occurred May 1 in the 10400 block of Swift Stream Place, where a trash can was set on fire; May 1 at the Sears loading area at the Columbia mall, where cardboard bales were set on fire underneath a cargo trailer; May 3 at the same loading area, where cardboard bales were again set on fire underneath a trailer, with the flames spreading this time to the trailer and causing an estimated $30,000 in damage; and a trash bin fire May 6 outside of the Lord & Taylor store at the mall.
Police said they were watching Mojica at the mall and saw him approach the trash bin May 6, then run away. After a fire broke out, detectives followed Mojica back to his apartment and arrested him.
• Three Columbia teens also were indicted June 6 on seven burglaries of Howard County Public School System schools and facilities, in March and April, using a stolen set of master keys, according to Kirwan. The teens, all 19, are twin brothers Alexander and Nicholas Schweitzer, of the 5600 block of Stevens Forest Road, and Jacob Mann, of the 6200 block of Freestone Court.
