Saddled With Debt, Some Decide to Torch Vehicles

Most local police agencies could not say how many cars have been burned in their jurisdictions by owners trying to defraud insurers. Other vehicle arsonists include common vandals and car thieves intent on destroying evidence.

Police said more than 700 vehicles are burned by arsonists in the region each year; fraud investigators' estimates of how many of those are owner give-ups range from as low as 15 percent in some areas to the vast majority in others.

To distinguish frauds from fires set by car thieves, investigators scrutinize arson cases involving vehicle models not normally stolen. Tom Reich, who investigates car arsons for the National Insurance Crime Bureau, recently looked at two torched Chrysler Pacificas, a model he said has been reported stolen only 98 times across the nation this year.

Historically, such arsons go up as people fall behind on car payments, experts say. In 2006, the number of delinquent loans to car dealerships began to rise. It recently reached levels not seen since at least 1990, according to the American Bankers Association.

The Baltimore police officer, Keosha Buie, admitted enlisting her uncle to help get rid of her leased 2002 Ford Taurus, according to court records. She told investigators that she was trying to escape payments, according to charging documents. The uncle, according to the documents, "was known to burn cars." Buie pleaded guilty to fraud and was terminated in 2006.

The firefighter, Gordon Byrd, initially told investigators that he was parked in his pickup eating french fries when an assailant threw a brick through the passenger window, climbed in and forced him to a wooded area. There, he claimed, the assailant hit him, knocking him out.

Byrd, who had no visible signs of injuries, later pleaded guilty to second-degree arson. He was $64,764 in debt, according to charging documents.

This summer, Sean P. Murphy's 2007 Dodge pickup burned in front of his mother's home in Southern Maryland. Murphy, 22, told investigators that he had been asleep in the house when the truck was set afire.

His girlfriend also gave a statement to police. Hers was a bit different: Murphy lit the truck on fire because of a high monthly payment and high gas prices, according to a signed police affidavit.

Murphy, an electrician who lives in St. Mary's County, was charged with second-degree arson. In an interview, he said he had no financial problems and didn't burn his truck. Murphy said his defense at his trial will be that his girlfriend made up the story to get back at him after a breakup.

In Calvert County, Paul H. Harley Jr. told police that when he left his home one night in July 2007, his sport-utility vehicle was there, doors unlocked. Hours later, the 2007 GMC Yukon turned up burned in Charles County.

But Harley, 35, had the truck's only key that night, and Yukons are known to be difficult to hot-wire, according to charging documents.