A man who police say set fire to a Germantown apartment building has been indicted on 43 charges, including 25 counts of attempted first-degree murder.

A police detective scheduled to testify against the man in a burglary case was among the building's residents.

Montgomery County Police Detective John Distel, his wife and their two children were trapped in their third-floor apartment by flames and smoke after a fire broke out around 4:40 a.m. Jan. 19 in the hallway of the garden apartment building in the 12200 block of Eagles Nest Court, according to police documents filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville.

The lights and sprinkler system in the hallway and foyer had been shut off and the blaze blocked the exits of all but two of the building's 12 apartments.

One woman jumped from her third-floor apartment and other trapped residents were rescued from their balconies by ladder, court documents state. The fire caused $100,000 in damage and displaced at least 30 of the building's 32 residents.

Raven Michael Masters, 31, set the fire to prevent Distel from testifying against him in a burglary case, police said. Masters was charged Jan. 28 with one count of first-degree arson and four counts of attempted first-degree murder.

A grand jury indicted him July 23 on 25 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 12 counts of first-degree arson, and one count each of obstructing justice, retaliation for testimony, intimidating or corrupting a witness, theft, second-degree burglary and fourth-degree burglary, according to court records.

Masters is being detained without bail. His attorney, Samuel Hamilton of Silver Spring, did not return a call for comment.

Masters entered a plea of not guilty Aug. 9. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 1, according to online court records.

Evidence of arson

The fire was caused by "purposeful placement of a large quantity of a combustible/ignitable liquid, most likely gasoline" in a trail that started at a first-floor rear exit and ended in a large pool of liquid in front of Distel's door, court documents state. A black glove that smelled of gasoline was found near the exit and prosecutors say they have DNA evidence linking Masters to the crime.

Court documents provide the following details.

A resident of a ground-floor apartment looked into the foyer through a peephole around 4:10 a.m. after hearing activity in a utility closet. The resident saw a man in a hooded sweatshirt carrying two blue containers.

Investigators found that a sprinkler system in the closet had been manually turned off and steel security cables cut and removed. A circuit breaker box was pried open and the breakers manually turned off.

The box also had been previously pried open and secured with a lock several days before the fire. Building management checked the box Jan. 14 after the building's hallway and foyer lights went out overnight, removed the lock and turned the breakers back on.

Masters' cell phone records showed that he called the 2nd District police station in Bethesda, Distel's former workplace, from the area of the Germantown apartment building at 4:56 a.m. Jan. 14. His cell phone was turned off the morning of Jan. 19, described in the documents as a tactic used by criminals to avoid detection.

A person using a computer with an IP address traced to Masters' mother's home looked Distel up on a public records website several hours before the fire.

Masters was recorded the night of Jan. 18 buying a gift card at a Hillandale grocery that was later used to purchase online information related to several witnesses, prosecutors and police officers involved in his criminal cases.

Masters was indicted in June 2009 for second-degree burglary, fourth-degree burglary, theft over $500 and failure to return a rented vehicle, online court records state. A two-day jury trial scheduled to start Jan. 19 was postponed one day because Masters came to court late. The trial was postponed again Jan. 20 because Distel, an eight-year veteran of the department, was unable to testify due to the fire. The charges in the theft case were included in the July indictment.

Evidence of theft

About 4:10 a.m. April 14, 2009, Distel pulled over a rented Cadillac sport utility vehicle driven by Masters. Distel found tools, a lock-picking kit and a bag containing $1,558, later identified as petty cash from a Rockville plastic surgeon's office, in the vehicle, police records state. Masters was stopped after he left the surgeon's parking lot and cited for failing to stop at a red traffic light before turning right and driving with a suspended license.

Court documents provide the following details.

Police searched Masters' home in Rockville and his mother's home in Hyattsville, where he was living while awaiting trial, and found evidence of other thefts, including external hard drives, memory sticks, thumb drives and computer central processing units. Forensic analysis connected Masters to burglaries, identity thefts and frauds. He used stolen credit cards to purchase personal information such as Social Security numbers.

Police found photos and videos of Masters breaking into buildings and phone closets, disabling alarms and using tire irons and other tools to pry open doors and break locks.

Masters was charged for burglary and fraud in 1998. A witness received a death threat over the phone during the trial and the call was traced to an address where Masters had been living with a relative. He was arrested in Washington, D.C., for threats of bodily harm and malicious destruction of property for damaging a front door.

Masters pleaded guilty to theft over $300, theft under $300 and use or disclosure of credit card numbers in March 1999 and was sentenced to probation before judgment, according online court records.

Masters was born Joseph Angelo Wimbush and changed his name to Christian Angelo Lanore in 1998, according to documents. He changed his name to Raven Michael Masters two years later. He reported that he worked in evening security at the time of his January arrest. His attorney wrote to the court in April that Masters planned to continue working as a day trader while awaiting trial.

Court records show that Masters pleaded guilty to driving on a suspended license and was fined Jan. 11, days before the Germantown blaze.

mtierney@gazette.net