A Connecticut ambulance worker has been arrested in connection with a string of at least four Molotov cocktail incidents in a matter of only hours at EMS facilities and a resident in various parts of the state, police said.
Richard White, 37, was arrested late Saturday in Pennsylvania just hours after Molotov cocktail attacks at Hunter’s Ambulance facilities, a firehouse and a residence located in three Connecticut municipalities, police officials confirmed Sunday.
He was charged with third-degree arson and burglary and is awaiting an extradition hearing. Police said more charges could be filed.
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“This individual has targeted those who we count on to save lives,” Old Saybrook Chief of Police Michael Spera told local new station FOX61.
Spera and a spokesperson for Hunter’s Ambulance and did not immediately respond to Fox News’ requests seeking comment.
White, who FOX61 identified as an emergency medical technician, was an employee with Hunter’s Ambulance, but had recently been placed on administrative leave, police said. He and a colleague were allegedly involved in a physical fight around 10 a.m. Saturday. The first fire was reported hours later.
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According to a press release by Meriden Police Capt. John Mennone, White went to Hunter’s Ambulance base in Old Saybrook shortly after 4:15 p.m. “and ignited a makeshift Molotov cocktail inside of the employee room.”
He then fled in a gray 2004 Ford Taurus and made his way to a Hunter’s Ambulance facility in Meriden, Mennone said.
As he pulled up to the ambulance bays, White was allegedly seen tossing “an already lit object out of the driver side window,” Mennone said.
“The molotov cocktail strikes the building and the vehicle is seen accelerating from the scene,” the press release states.
After leaving Meriden, authorities roughly TKTKT miles away in Roxbury reported a pair of simultaneous arson fires around 6:15 p.m., at a local residence and the town fire station, which houses volunteer fire and volunteer ambulance services, CT State Police Sgt. Paul Makuc told reporters Sunday.
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Investigators believe the residence, the firehouse, and the ambulance facilities were all specifically targeted, Makuc said. WTNH-TV reported the residence was possibly one of White’s previous family homes.
“Within hours of that suspect being developed and these fires occurring, the Pennsylvania State Police took that suspect into custody after a traffic stop in Milton, Penn.,” Makuc said. “This all unfolded very quickly over a very short amount of time.”
No injuries were reported and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are also investigating the attack, he said.