An 18-year-old has been arrested in connection to a “suspicious” apartment fire near Columbia Pike earlier this year.
Marvin Adelso Hernandez Lopez is accused of using a 7-Eleven cup filled with gasoline during the May 15 blaze at a garden apartment building in Douglas Park.
Officers from the Arlington County Police Department took Hernandez Lopez into custody after pulling him over in the Lyon Park neighborhood on Wednesday. The suspect, who had reportedly been unlawfully residing in the United States for six years, admitted to setting the fire in order to get even with an acquaintance, police said.
“[He] admitted that he and other co-conspirators talked about setting a fire at the residence of someone who owed him money,” according to a criminal complaint. “[Hernandez Lopez] and co-conspirators filled a 7-Eleven cup with gasoline and the accused ignited the fire under investigation.”
A preliminary investigation by the Arlington County Fire Marshal Office located a 7-Eleven cup “at the seat of the fire.” The smell of gasoline also permeated from the area, and a trained K-9 detected an accelerant, court documents said.
The day of the fire, which broke out around 5 a.m., firefighters rescued several people using ladders as the fire burned in a stairwell. At least five people were evaluated by medics and two were taken to a local hospital with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Hernandez Lopez, who is a high school student, also voluntarily told officers that he had a gun in his backpack and that he was undocumented, police say.
On May 13, the Arlington County Board voted to remove the ability of local police to voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration officials by revoking Section 7 of the county’s “Trust Policy.”
Board chair Takis Karantonis reiterated this spring that those facing criminal charges in Arlington will have those cases handled at the local level.
“Those who have committed the crime will do the time,” Karantonis said. “This is what we continue to stand for.”
Hernandez Lopez faces five charges in all, including arson, conspiracy to commit arson and gun possession by an unlawful alien. He faces decades in prison if convicted on each of the charges.
Hernandez Lopez is scheduled to next appear in General District Court on Oct. 15 for a preliminary hearing. There, a judge will determine if there is probable cause to send the case to a grand jury.
