Smiling arson suspect indicted for 3 fires

UPDATE @ 2:51 p.m. (June 23)

David S. Butler, 44, was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on three counts of felony aggravated arson and one count of arson. He remains in Montgomery County Jail.

He will be arraigned in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court June 28.

UPDATE @ 11 p.m. (June 15)

Formal arson charges are approved today for a 44-year-old Dayton man who broadly smiled for his mugshot.

David S. Butler, 44, is accused of setting three fires Monday morning that destroyed two vacant houses and damaged a third on Pritz Avenue, Highland Hills Avenue and Nicholas Avenue.

Butler will be in court Thursday afternoon. He is charged with four counts of aggravated arson and one count of arson, all felonies, online Dayton Municipal Court records show.

Butler has been held without bail in the Montgomery County since his arrest Monday afternoon.

UPDATE @ 2:52 p.m. (June 13)

Police have arrested the man suspected of starting three fires this morning that destroyed and damaged vacant buildings in Dayton.

David Scott Butler, 44, is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on suspicion of aggravated arson.

Butler is scheduled to appear Tuesday for an arraignment in Dayton Municipal Court.

UPDATE @ 11:20 a.m.

Fire officials said the man who is suspected of starting at least two house fires this morning in the same Dayton neighborhood is in custody.

The news of the apprehension comes as crews respond to a third fire at a vacant structure in the 400 block of Nicholas Avenue.

The third fire, at a boarded up two-story brick home, appeared to be contained quickly after crews arrived on scene.

UPDATE @ 9:49 a.m.

Officials say two house fires on the east side of Dayton just south of U.S. 35 were arsons and a male seen near the fires is believed to be a suspect.

Motorists heading west into the city on U.S. 35 ran into heavy smoke as it poured from the second fire in the 400 block of Highland Hills Avenue shortly after 8 a.m.

Dayton’s district chief on scene said accelerant may have been used to set the vacant house on fire as well as the house fire on Pritz Avenue. Crews had put out flames at the first fire when smoke started pouring from the second house a few blocks away.

The exact causes remain under investigation.

The male who is considered a suspect is believed to live in the neighborhood and is described as white with a slender, lanky build. He was seen wearing a dark shirt with a “Punisher” skull emblem on the front.

EARLIER

Crews battling a fire on Pritz Avenue had to respond to a second fire nearby in the 400 block of Highland Hills Avenue.

The house was engulfed in flames and black smoke poured into the air from the scene just south of U.S. 35.

There have been no reports of injuries.

We’re on scene and will provide updates as more information becomes available.

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