Man arrested for allegedly setting three fires in Somerville parking garage

A Boston man was arrested for allegedly setting three fires inside a parking garage, according to Somerville Police.

Somerville Fire responded around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to three separate fires in the garage on Revolution Drive.

Authorities said one fire, which was self-extinguished involved a Bobcat ATV with a snowplow and sander attached.

The second allegedly also involved a Bobcat ATV, this time with a sweeper attached, which then spread to two other sweepers.

The third fire involved a wooden pallet, and all three fires are estimated to have caused $400,000 to $500,000 in damages.

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There were no injuries reported in the fires.

Police said they arrested 34-year-old Aniel Wilson, and he was charged with five counts of burning personal property, one count of vandalizing property, one count of furnishing a false name to police and one count of attempting to burn a motor vehicle.

Police allege surveillance video captured Wilson tinkering around inside the garage for more than three hours before there were any sign of flames.

"You have to wonder about people’s motivations and things," Alan Doherty, who also works at the Partners HealthCare office and parks in the garage, said. "It's just good it was caught and the guy was caught."

A police report says Wilson tried to sneak away to a Home Depot lot next door, using a false name and pretending to be a worker when confronted by police.

The 34-year-old, reportedly covered in soot, went on to claim that "he tried to start a Bobcat and that it just 'blew up.'"

Police aren't saying if there's any reason why the suspect targeted the specific parking garage.

Meanwhile, a Partners HealthCare employee said the incident did not affect operations, but said employees were all notified about the incident through email.

Wilson was arraigned in Somerville District Court Tuesday, and the judge ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Cox Media Group