This story, originally published at 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2024, was updated at 12:20 p.m. to add that Herrera-Rivera’s attorney declined to comment on the matter.
Fernando Herrera-Rivera, 24, of Gaithersburg, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of second-degree arson in connection to a September 2023 spree that caused an estimated $1 million in damages, the Montgomery County state’s attorney’s office said Thursday in a statement.
The fires occurred around Gaithersburg in the early morning of Sept. 17, 2023, and damaged the Dock of the Bay Beer and Wine Store, El Salvadoreno Latin Market, a Gaithersburg police department building and a car.
Herrera-Rivera faces up to 80 years in prison, the state’s attorney’s office said. He is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds, according to digital court records. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26, the state’s attorney’s office said.
His attorney, Stanley Thompson, declined to comment on the matter in an email to MoCo360 Friday morning.
Herrera-Rivera was taken into custody on Sept. 17 near North Frederick Avenue on the same day of the four fires, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) Public Information Officer Pete Piringer told MoCo360 after the incident.
Piringer estimated the fires caused at least $1 million in damages. No injuries were reported aside from Herrera-Rivera suffering apparent blisters on his hands, authorities said.
The string of fires began just before 2:30 a.m., according to charging documents. At approximately 2:21 a.m., firefighters and an MCFRS explosives investigator were dispatched to a building fire at 433 S. Frederick Ave. in Gaithersburg’s Holbrook Shopping Center, according to the charging documents.
Upon arrival, MCFRS crews found and extinguished two fires, one in the Dock of the Bay, and another a few doors down at the El Salvadoreno Latin Market at 441 S. Frederick Ave., charging documents said.
“Both businesses had evidence of being broken into as their glass door fronts were smashed and broken by landscaping rocks nearby,” charging documents state. A half-full red gas can was found inside the Dock of the Bay shop, according to charging documents.
Then, at 3:05 a.m., MCFRS received a call about a fire at the Gaithersburg City police station at 14 Fulks Corner, about half a mile from Holbrook Shopping Center, according to charging documents. No officers were in the station at the time because of the nearby blazes, documents said.
When MCFRS crews responded to the station, they found a fire on the building’s siding and extinguished it, according to charging documents. Video footage from the scene showed a man lighting the fire, charging documents said.
The Montgomery County Public Safety Communication Center then received a call at 3:17 a.m. about a vehicle on fire at 3 Russell Ave., according to charging documents. The location is less than half a mile from the Gaithersburg police station.
Upon arrival at the Russel Avenue location, MCFRS crews found a 2019 Toyota Camry ablaze, along with a nearby building on fire, according to charging documents.
Charging documents said the building fire was set on an outside staircase and expanded into the structure. Three businesses, The Taco Bar, La Frontera (a Tex-Mex restaurant) and Dina’s Hair Designs, were damaged by fire or efforts to suppress it, according to charging documents.
Around 3:37 a.m., a county police officer on patrol saw Herrera-Rivera, who allegedly matched the description of the suspect gleaned from video footage, near 501 N. Frederick Ave., according to charging documents. Herrera-Rivera was in possession of about 20 lighters that matched the lighters found at the scenes of two of the fires, documents said. The officer detained Herrera-Rivera.
As police prepared to transport him to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville, another fire was reported at 101 S. Frederick Ave. outside Pepco substation #39—next to the Gaithersburg police station—according to charging documents. The door was scorched, but the interior was not damaged, charging documents indicated.
Herrera-Rivera was identified through video surveillance and witness accounts, and after he was interviewed at the central processing unit, law enforcement determined there was probable cause to arrest him, Piringer told MoCo360 in September 2023. Herrera-Rivera was charged with six counts of second-degree arson.
During an interview with investigators, Herrera-Rivera said he had been driven to 441 S. Frederick Ave., where his “abductors” shot through the shop window with a sniper rifle and forced him to enter the El Salvadoreno Latin Market, according to charging documents. He also said that he saw smoke inside the store and left, charging documents state.
Herrera-Rivera also stated he observed the fire at the police station and saw a man, who looked just like him, stuffing newspaper under a vehicle in the parking lot at Russell Avenue and then lighting it on fire, the charging documents said.
“Herrera-Rivera did not admit to lighting the fires himself, only he happened to see them as they were occurring. While processing Herrera-Rivera at the [county’s central processing unit], blisters resembling those of burns were seen on both of his palms,” charging documents state.
Herrera-Rivera is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds, according to digital court records. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26, the state’s attorney’s office said.
–Former MoCo360 reporter Courtney Cohn contributed to this report
