Source: WISH-TV / other
INDIANAPOLIS — Demarcus McCloud, 45 of Indianapolis was charged with arson according to the U.S. Department of Justice, for his role in setting fire to an IndyGo bus at the 38th and North Meridian stop.
According to court documents officers responded to report of a fire at the bus stop on April 24th around 5 p.m. When police responded the inside and front half of the bus had been completely engulfed in flames.
Witnesses claimed that a passenger, McCloud, had started the fire. IMPD located him in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant with two butane lighters in his hands. He was arrested and taken to a local hospital for injuries.
Surveillance camera footage shows McCloud getting on the bud at the Julia Carson Transit Center while carrying a container filled with liquid and the two lighters. McCloud would then sit at the back of the bus and smoke a cigarette while hiding under a blanket.
As the bus approached the 38th and Meridian stop, McCloud would begin to empty the jug onto the center aisle. He would light a piece of paper and then throw it on the floor as he walked toward the bus door. McCloud would then run from the station.
One passenger was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
IndyGo Bus #1993 suffered an estimated $2.1 million in damages with the bus stop receiving an additional $25,000 in damages.
McCloud faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
