A 33-year-old woman is charged with arson after city police said she tried to burn down an East Baltimore convenience store with Molotov cocktail Wednesday night.
Aisha Tankia Warsaw, of the unit block of N. Port St., was arrested Thursday after surveillance video showed her dousing the entrance to the Lucky Corner Grocery Store in the 2200 block of E. Fairmount Ave., police said.
A city police spokesman said additional charges are pending but did not provide further detail. In a statement, the department said Warsaw was wanted for "numerous attempts to burn down The Lucky Corner Grocery Store."
Police wrote in charging documents that shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday, she set a plastic bag covering a decorative plant on fire using an incendiary device. Video footage shows her arguing with a person inside the store. She left the store and re-entered carrying a bottle, spraying liquid around the store front counter, the floor, the ice cream freezer and the plant, the document said. She is then seen on the video trying to light the plant on fire and later fled the store, police said.
Officers canvassing the area later found Warsaw, who was dressed like the suspect on the video. A witness also identified her as the suspect, police said. The charging documents do not provide a motive.
Warsaw is charged with arson and related offenses. She is being held at the Baltimore City Detention Center. She did not have a lawyer listed in online court records.
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