A man suspected of setting multiple fires on the eastern side of Harrisonburg was captured early Tuesday morning in Greene County.
Ryan Lambert, 40, is currently being held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail without bond.
He has been charged with felony eluding and obstruction of justice.
Charges are pending from the Harrisonburg Fire Department’s Fire Marshal’s Office.
According to the Harrisonburg Police Department, the string of fires started late Monday evening. All were extinguished, and no injuries were reported.
The first call came in to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center at approximately 11 p.m. where someone reported fireworks near Kroger off East Market Street.
Several minutes later, the ECC received a call stating that a man had set a fire in a trash can in front of Best Buy in the Harrisonburg Crossing shopping center off Burgess Road.
Harrisonburg Fire Department personnel, while responding to the shopping center for the call, witnessed an additional fire that had been set in a trash can in front of the Model Nail Spa in the shopping center.
Another fire appeared to have been set in a trash can in front of the nearby PetSmart.
The HFD Fire Marshal’s Office is currently investigating the fires.
All 911 callers identified the same suspect vehicle description – an orange truck pulling a white jeep – which allowed Harrisonburg Police Department officers to locate the vehicle nearby at the Sheetz on East Market Street at approximately 1:15 a.m.
The driver, Lambert, refused to exit his vehicle and fled the scene into Rockingham County where the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office located him at a convenience store on Spotswood Trail just outside of Harrisonburg.
After a pursuit, Lambert was stopped in Greene County and taken into custody.
Lambert was also wanted in Chesterfield County on a capias for arrest related to charges that include a firearms violation and a protective order violation.
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Crystal Graham
