A suspect alleged to be the Washington area's serial arsonist, who has plagued Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia for the past two-plus years, was arrested by federal agents Wednesday morning in Maryland, according to Theresa R. Stoop, special agent in charge, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).
A five-count complaint was filed n U.S. District Court against Thomas A. Sweatt, a 50-year-old African American male, of Lebaum Street, Washington, D.C. for incidents in Washington during September and October 2003, according to the federal criminal complaint.
Fire and police personnel from the three jurisdictions where the arsons have occurred joined federal and local officials at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House, Third and Constitution avenues, D.C., to participate in a press conference Wednesday afternoon announcing Sweatt's arrest.
"We have been tracking Mr. Sweatt for the past week, day and night. He was arrested on Marlboro Pike at approximately 9 a.m. this morning without incident," Stoop said.
"The role of the Arson task Force that has been working night and day for the past two years to get this person off the street has been the key. It can be attributed to thorough investigation and laboratory technology," she said.
"There was also a lot of plain hard work and sweat behind all that lab work and technology. As we received more than 1,000 leads from the public," said Glenn Ivy, U.S. Attorney, Prince Georges County.
Over the past two years there have been approximately 47 suspicious fire attributed to a serial arsonist. Of that total one was in the City of Alexandria and three in the area of Fairfax County immediately adjacent to Alexandria. Twenty four were in D.C., 17 in Prince Georges County, and two in Montgomery County.
"This is an outstanding example of team work by both fire and police and all levels of government. The excellent work of the task force has removed a risk from our communities and citizens," said Alexandria Fire Chief Gary Mesaris.
"This is truly excellent news that was brought about by a lot of hard work on everybody's part. It definitely brought together fire and police throughout the region. There were no turf battles over this. Everybody worked together," said Alexandria Chief Fire Marshal Michael Conner.
"It's a great day for both fire and law enforcement. We had three fires in Fairfax County linked to this person and it's a real relief to know he is off the street," said Deputy Chief David McKernan, Fire Prevention Division, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.
According to the ATF Criminal Complaint, the task force got its first break when the Montgomery County Police Department Crime Laboratory tied DNA evidence to Sweatt. He had been interviewed by AFT agents and D.C. police. During that interview he "voluntarily provided investigators" with a DNA sample, according to the complaint. That was forwarded to the Montgomery County lab where it was determined a match.
Sweatt was placed under surveillance both at his home and place of employment, KFC/Pizza Hut on Bladensburg Road. His car was identified from previous observations.
"Based on the foregoing, I believe there is probable cause to believe that ... Thomas A. Sweatt, did knowingly ... attempt to damage and destroy, by means of fire ...," AFT Special Agent Scott R. Fulkerson, stated in the signed complaint dated April 26, 2005.
Federal spokespersons at the press conference said the next step would be to bring formal criminal charges and an indictment. They gave no time estimate on that action.