Rheinmünster (dpa / lsw) – local knowledge and meticulous police work have led to the arrest of a suspected serial arsonist in Rheinmünster (Rastatt district). According to police on Friday, there has been a series of fires in the area since July 11. First there were two fires in the same basement, two weeks later bales of hay and five cubic meters of wood in the forest reserve and 15 square meters of dry forest floor caught fire. Nobody got hurt. The fire brigade was able to prevent the fire from spreading by quickly intervening.
Circumstances pointed to arson in all cases. Witness interviews put a 19-year-old in the investigators’ sights, also because his car was sighted near the crime scene. When a field in the area was on fire again on Thursday evening and the suspect was nearby, the police arrested him. He was to be brought before a magistrate on Friday because of the urgent suspicion of serious arson. The police said nothing about the possible motive and the personal background of the man.
