What to Know
- A 30-year-old New Jersey man was arrested Thursday in connection to a series of arson last week
- Marcus Wise of Roselle was charged burglary and criminal mischief and several counts of arson
- He was carrying a lighter, a piece of cardboard and a can of WD-40 on him, according to police
A 30-year-old New Jersey man was arrested Thursday in connection to a series of arson in Union County last week that was committed in a single day.
Prosecutors charged Marcus Wise of Roselle with burglary and criminal mischief and several counts of arson after he allegedly set fires to a business, a vacant home, a dumpster and some vegetation around Linden on the night of July 25.
Linden police found Wise and took him into custody in the early morning of July 26 after receiving reports of a person throwing rocks through a building's glass door. The arson suspect was carrying a lighter, a piece of cardboard and a can of WD-40 on him, police said.
Federal authorities were later called in to assist in the investigation of the “suspicious” overnight and early morning fires and they helped determined that Wise was responsible for all the fires and the break-in, prosecutors said.
No injuries were reported from the fires, according to Linden Police Lt. Christopher Guenther, however resident from a neighboring building near a fire on Wood Avenue were evacuated, while residents from a nearby home next to the site of a Seymour Avenue blaze were displaced and relocated with the assistance of the American Red Cross.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Wise had legal representation. He's scheduled to appear in court next Friday, Aug. 9.
Shortly after 1:15 a.m., Linden Police Department officers responded to the 400 block of Roselle Street on a report of a person throwing rocks through a glass door of a building and found a suspect later identified as Wise at the scene. When taken into custody, he was found to be in possession of a lighter, a piece of cardboard, and a can of WD-40.
