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Federal authorities yesterday arrested the fifth and sixth suspects in a massive arson case in Charles County, Md., this month, and law-enforcement sources said other arrests -- stemming from interviews with as many as 16 "acquaintances" -- are likely.     The U.S. Attorney's Office said Roy McCann, 22, of Waldorf, Md., and Michael Gilbert, 21, of Fort Washington were arrested yesterday and will be brought before a magistrate in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt today.    Authorities have yet to reveal a motive in the Dec. 6 arson that destroyed or damaged 26 unoccupied houses at the upscale Hunters Brooke development in Indian...

....."We do not know a motive as of right now," said Kelly Long, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Baltimore. "Every option is still open." Three of the suspects, 20-year-olds Jeremy Daniel Parady of Accokeek, Michael McIntosh Everhart of Waldorf and Patrick Stephen Walsh of Fort Washington, are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt today. A fourth suspect, Aaron L. Speed, 21, a security guard from Waldorf who worked at the construction site, was arrested Thursday. Speed has said that he was upset about how his employer, Security Services of...

Racial animosity and revenge are among the possible motives in the arson fires in a subdivision in southern Maryland on Dec. 6, a spokesman for federal investigators said Sunday. Four men have been charged with arson in the fires, which destroyed 10 houses and partly burned 16 others, causing $10 million in damage. No one was hurt; many of the houses were still under construction. A federal law enforcement official speaking on the condition of anonymity said two of the four suspects in custody made racial statements to investigators during questioning. The suspects are white, and many of the families...

LA PLATA, Md. (AP) - Three more people were arrested Saturday in connection with the largest residential arson in Maryland history, a collection of blazes that caused $10 million in damage to new houses in an upscale development near a nature preserve. The three men were arrested early Saturday, federal and local officials said. They would not immediately discuss a possible motive. The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore identified the men as Patrick Stephen Walsh, 20, of Fort Washington; Jeremy Daniel Parady, 20, of Accokeek; and Michael McIntosh Everhart, 20, of Waldorf. In a recorded message, a spokeswoman for the...

A security guard for an upscale subdivision in Charles County, Md., has admitted knowing of a plan to set fire to houses there and being present during the lighting of the fires, which caused $10 million in damage, according to court documents.     Aaron Lee Speed, 21, of Waldorf, Md., was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt yesterday on arson charges, after having been arrested Thursday. Judge William Connelly ordered Mr. Speed to be held in U.S. marshals' custody without bond until a detention hearing Tuesday. Several others were being questioned at the Charles County Sheriff's Office in La...

Security Guard Arrested In Maryland Arson Case A security guard for a company hired to protect construction sites at a Charles County subdivision was arrested yesterday and charged with setting fires last week that destroyed 10 unoccupied houses at the development and damaged 16 others. Aaron L. Speed, 21, was taken into custody by federal agents in Charles County yesterday while undergoing a polygraph test, several law enforcement sources said. Speed, who spent time at the subdivision as a guard for Security Services of America, is scheduled to appear this morning before a magistrate judge at U.S. District Court...

BALTIMORE (AP) — A security guard arrested on arson charges for a series of fires that damaged or destroyed homes under construction at an upscale housing development said he was innocent and insisted that authorities have the wrong person. Aaron L. Speed, 21, is an employee of Security Services of America, a company hired to guard the development 35 miles south of the nation's capital. "They have the wrong man," he told WUSA-TV Thursday shortly before his arrest. "Everything that I'm doing, I'm doing willingly to prove to them that I am innocent. I'm taking a polygraph today that'll show...

Security Guard Arrested in Md. Fire Probe Thursday, December 16, 2004 • Van Driver Sought in Md. Fires Probe • Eco-Terrorism Suspected in Md. Fires • Arson Blamed for Md. Subdivision Fires BALTIMORE — A security guard who worked at a subdivision where a series of fires burned several homes has been arrested and charged in the case, a source close to the investigation said Thursday. Aaron Speed (search), 21, was to appear Friday in federal court, the source said. The source did not provide an alleged motive for setting the fires. Speed is an employee of Security Services of...