The Aberdeen Police Department says that with help from downtown businesses it was able to identify and arrest a transient who started a fire in a building once a cornerstone of the downtown area long ago on Tuesday afternoon.  

A 48-year old Aberdeen transient was arrested by Aberdeen Police officers and detectives at the Aberdeen Library Tuesday afternoon following a fire at the Morck building (located at 215 South K St.).

Just after 1:30 PM police and fire personnel responded to a report of black smoke coming from the building. The left eastbound lane of Heron St. was blocked for over an hour as firefighters extinguished the fire on the north side of the building (just off the alley), at one of the boarded up windows.

During the investigation, officers were able to locate a video camera on a nearby business. The business owner quickly assisted with the review of their surveillance video, and officers were able to watch the suspect start the fire. A description of the suspect was provided to other officers in the field, who began searching for the suspect.

At about 3:35 PM the suspect was located in the Library, still wearing the clothing observed on video. The suspect was taken into custody and booked into the Aberdeen Jail for investigation of Arson 1st Degree.

The Aberdeen Police Department extends a big “Thank You” to area businesses who partnered with us to provide assistance with the suspect identification and quick capture of the suspect.