LEWISTON – Police arrested a Park Street man on Monday and charged him with setting a string of fires that burned three vehicles in the downtown area last week.
Ryan M. Jurczak, 23, of 210 Park St., was charged with three counts of arson after an investigation by Lewiston police and fire investigators.
Shortly after 11 p.m. July 19, a car went up in flames on Oak Street near the parking garage. Police said it was the first of three vehicles set on fire as Jurczak made his way through the downtown area.
Investigators said Jurczak heaped mounds of paper on or around the front seats of the vehicles and lit them with a lighter. In one incident, he used books to start the fire, investigators said. Inside the last vehicle, he pulled paper items from the glove compartment to set on fire, they said.
By 12:30 a.m. July 20, three vehicles had been destroyed, and a garage and building on Canal Street Alley sustained fire damage when they caught fire from a burning pickup truck.
Police estimated damage to the vehicles – a 1990 Corsica, a 2002 Hyundai and a Ford Ranger pickup truck – at $8,000. Fire officials said the overall damage from the arson spree is likely higher, with total damage to property at close to $40,000.
The vehicles that burned were on Oak Street, on Chestnut Street near Simones’ Hot Dog Stand and in Canal Street Alley. It was unknown Monday why the fires were set or if there was any connection to the owners of the vehicles.
Each of the vehicles that burned was unlocked when the fires were set. Police said Jurczak tried to burn a third car in the Park Street area, but that attempt apparently failed.
Investigators said an item seized from one of the burned cars, as well as other evidence, led to Jurczak as the suspect.
Police said it appeared Jurczak worked alone when he set the fires. According to court records, the suspect has a minor record in the Lewiston area. In 2002, when he was living at 274 Court St. in Auburn, he was convicted on a theft charge.
Jurczak was being held at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on Monday night on $100,000 cash bail.
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