Suspended Conn. EMT Charged in Fire Spree

Hartford Courant

An ambulance employee placed on administrative leave was taken into custody in Pennsylvania Saturday after police say he set four fires across Connecticut.

Richard White, 37, a Hunter’s Ambulance EMT, was charged Saturday night with burglary and arson, said Sgt. Paul Makuc of the State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit. He is a suspect in fires set at the firehouse and a private residence in Roxbury, Makuc said.

Meriden police say White used a Molotov cocktail to set a fire at Hunter’s Ambulance in Old Saybrook and tossed a “lit object,” also a Molotov cocktail, at the ambulance holding bays in Meriden.

Speaking to reporters Sunday Makuc would not comment on the “incendiary-type devices” that were used.

White was in a physical fight Saturday morning with another employee at the ambulance company’s office in Meriden, city police said Sunday. It followed a disciplinary hearing that resulted in White being placed on administrative leave, police said.

Several hours later, White allegedly “ignited a makeshift Molotov cocktail” in a room at the Hunter’s Ambulance base in Old Saybrook, Meriden police said. Makuc said White was not permitted in the building.

Less than an hour later, White arrived at Hunter’s Ambulance in Meriden and threw an “already lit object” out of the driver’s side window, striking the building, city police said.

Those fires and the other two in Roxbury occurred within just two hours, the first in Old Saybrook shortly after 4 p.m. and the fourth in Roxbury after 6 p.m., Makuc said.

“I do know that this all unfolded very quickly over a very short amount of time,” he said. “Everything that occurred last night happened in a very rapid time frame.”

Police say no injuries were reported, though Makuc said significant smoke damage was reported at the Roxbury firehouse.

Meriden police notified surrounding agencies, State Police and emergency personnel in nearby states. Pennsylvania State Police on Saturday took White into custody at a traffic stop in Milton, about 250 miles west of Meriden, Connecticut State Police said.

He’s waiting for extradition to Connecticut on a warrant filed by Middletown related to the Old Saybrook incident, Makuc said.