Man sentenced to jail for setting fire to Rockland garage

Mon, 08/12/2019 - 1:45pm

    UPDATE/ROCKLAND (Aug. 12, 2019) — A 19-year-old South Thomaston man who was convicted of setting fire to a residential garage in Rockland May 30, will serve nine months and one day in jail.

    Hendrix Hallowell pleaded guilty to arson and burglary July 25 in Knox County Unified Court.

    Hallowell’s full sentence is two years in jail for each count, with all but nine months and one day suspended.

    He will also serve two years probation following his release from jail.


    UPDATE/ROCKLAND (June 26, 2019) — A South Thomaston man who was charged with arson for allegedly starting a fire May 30 in a residential garage, along with a juvenile, remains in jail.

    Hendrix Hallowell, 19, appeared in Knox County Unified Court before Judge Paul Mathews June 21. His bail was set at $5,000 cash.

    Information regarding the arrest of the 17-year-old juvenile is not being released due to his age.

    According to the affidavit filed in Knox County Unified Court by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, on May 30 at approximately 6:16 p.m., Senior Investigator Ken MacMaster was notified by the Rockland Fire Department about a structure fire in a detached garage at Camden Street Terrace.

    The investigator learned that an employee who picks up the garbage for the property’s owner discovered the fire and observed two young men walking away from the house and the main door to the garage was partly open, according to the court document.

    When police interviewed the owner of the garage she said that she had no idea there was a fire until the fire department arrived and removed her from the house. The owner told police that there was not any electricity in the garage and it was used for storage. The doors to the garage were not locked.

    On May 31, Rockland Police Detective Alex Gaylor confirmed the identity of Hallowell and the juvenile after reviewing video footage at a local business and interviewing an employee, according to the affidavit.

    Both later admitted to Gaylor that they were in the area the day of the fire. After further questioning, Hallowell remembered going into the garage because he was looking for a place to sleep. He also told police that the other youth was allegedly playing with a lighter while they were inside the garage and lit a piece of foam on fire. 

    Hallowell will appear in court again July 25 for a dispositional conference.


    ROCKLAND — Two young men from Rockland have been charged with arson in connection with a fire in late May that destroyed a garage in Rockland. 

    For approximately two and a half weeks, investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office worked with the Rockland fire and police departments to determine the cause of fire that burned a detached garage at Camden Street Terrace, May 30.  

    Wednesday, June 19, the Fire Marshal’s Office charged Hendrix Hallowell, 19, and a 17-year-old boy with arson and burglary.

    Both young men were already in jail on unrelated charges when the new charges were added, according to the FMO, in a news release. 

    Through the investigation, police and investigators concluded that Hallowell and the individual allegedly entered the garage, set the fire, and then left. 

    Hallowell is at the Knox County Jail and the juvenile is being held at the Long Creek Youth Center.

    Hallowell likely will be in Rockland court Friday, according to the release.

    The four on-duty firefighters from Rockland’s A-shift, along with the fire chief, knocked down the fire before it could spread to the trees and the house. Firefighters from Camden, Rockport, and Rockland’s call units also responded.

    See our previous article:

    Quick actions keep Rockland garage fire from spreading