Anthony J. Walton

Helen, MD— On Oct.19, 2015, the St.Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance call at Hills Store on Point Lookout Road in Helen.

When officers arrived on the scene and made contact with individuals in the middle of Chaptico Road, who were surrounding Anthony J. Walton, 42, of Mechanicsville.

According to charging documents, “Walton had been inside Hills Store drinking since approximately 3 p.m. the day of the incident. At approximately 5:45 p.m. Walton was using the telephone at the bar and became irate with the person on the other end of the phone.”

Walton was asked to keep it down but became progressively more furious throughout the evening and started using profanities and yelling at the bartender. Walton was asked to leave the bar by the bartender. Walton was yelling as he exited through the front door.

At 8:30 p.m., an employee and a resident who lives above the bar came out of his residence and saw his son’s vehicle on fire. “The fire was in an incipient stage and was only in an area approximately six-by-six in size. The victim’s father got a hose and extinguished the fire,” according to charging documents.  

Walton was detained and searched by St.Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and had four books of matches on his person. “There were several matches missing from the match books,” according to charging documents. Walton also had a vapor smoking device. 

Deputy Fire Marshal J. Nelson subsequently arrived at the scene. “Upon my (Nelson) arrival I initiated an investigation into the origin and cause of the fire. The fire was determined to be, “incendiary from an open flame igniting combustible plastic materials in front of the hood in the area of the windshield,” Nelson stated in the charging documents. 

Walton was charged with second-degree arson and malicious destruction of property valued at $1,000. Walton has a tentative preliminary hearing scheduled for March 24 at St. Mary’s County District Court. 

Walton faces a maximum jail sentence of 23 years and a maximum fine of $32,500. 

Contact Charles Seifert at c.seifert@thebaynet.com