Feds Grab Suspected D.C. Firebug

Officials with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms arrested a District of Columbia man on Wednesday who they suspect may be responsible for more than 40 fires in the Washington area.

The Washington Post identified the suspect as Thomas Sweatt, a 50-year-old restaurant employee who worked in a KFC outlet in a neighborhood where many of the fires occurred.

The blazes, which began a little more than two years ago, set the city on edge for months at a time. Some residents took to leaving their porch lights on all night, or even standing watch. Firefighters went door-to-door handing out fliers with tips on how to protect a house from arson.

The Post said Sweatt had been linked to the fire spree through DNA evidence collected at the scene of two of the blazes.

All the fires were set with a flammable liquid, and were touched off overnight. Most of the buildings were residential dwellings with the residents asleep inside at the time the fires were set.

Authorities made the arrest around 9 a.m. in Prince George's County, Md., ATF spokesman Mike Campbell said. Charges were expected later Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court, Campbell said.

A single arsonist is suspected of 44 fires set in D.C., Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland, Alexandria, Va., and Fairfax County, Va.

The fires began on March 8, 2003, in the district. One blaze — on June 5, 2003 in Northeast Washington — killed an 86-year-old woman.