A videographer has been arrested for allegedly setting a building on fire so he could film firefighters extinguishing the blaze.
21-year-old videographer Joshua Christian-Stanley Jackson was taken into custody on Friday (February 28) after investigators linked him to an earlier fire at a vacant commercial building in Charles County, Maryland.
According to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, emergency services responded to a reported commercial building fire at 12535 Crain Highway around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 22, following a 911 call.
Firefighters arrived to find flames inside the vacant building and extinguished the blaze within minutes. The Office of the State Fire Marshal was called to investigate and later determined that the fire had been intentionally set.
Investigators discovered that the 911 caller was Jackson. The videographer, from Prince Frederick, Maryland, regularly posts clips of emergency services responses on social media.
In one social media post, Jackson claims he was returning from a DoorDash delivery in King George County, Virginia when he discovered the fire on Crain Highway and described it and its progression in detail. In his post, he described the fire and its progression in detail.
However, according to local news outlet WMAR 2 News Baltimore, Deputy State Fire Marshals later determined that Jackson had never traveled to or from Virginia for DoorDash that evening. They also uncovered evidence that he had made multiple false 911 calls in Charles, St. Mary’s, and Calvert counties.
During questioning, Jackson allegedly admitted to setting the fire, stating that he profited from filming emergency responses for his social media accounts.
Jackson was charged with second-degree arson, malicious burning, and causing a false fire alarm. The videographer is currently being held at the Charles County Detention Center without bond.
The Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office says it is continuing to investigate more cases that Jackson may have reported.
“Arson is a serious crime that puts lives at risk and places an unnecessary burden on our first responders,” Acting State Fire Marshal Jason M. Mowbray says in a statement.
“We want to remind the public that making false 911 calls is a criminal offense, and anyone who engages in such reckless behavior will be held accountable.”
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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