Cincinnati Police may have caught the man who allegedly tried to start a fire at a downtown business over the weekend.
Woods Hardware CEO Matt Woods posted early Tuesday morning on social media that a suspect is now in custody for attempting to set fire to the store's downtown location. He credited the Cincinnati Police Department and the Cincinnati Fire Department for their work on the case.
Earlier this week, Woods said that someone tried to light a fire among the propane tanks outside of Woods Hardware around 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Camera footage that Woods posted to his personal public Facebook page showed a man in a black jacket and light pants walking with a box and plastic bag toward the store. Another photo showed a large pile of soot and debris at the base of the propane tanks, which are locked in a metal case outside the store.
Surveillance video showed that the man also had tried to burn wooden pallets. Woods said that a "Good Samaritan" had stomped out that fire.
WKRC-TV reports that the suspect's name is Damian Wakefield. He was arraigned Tuesday.
"Thanks to the excellent work of the Cincinnati Police Department and Cincinnati Fire Department, a suspect is now in custody for the attempted arson at our Woods Hardware location on Sunday," Woods posted on Tuesday.
"This is the second time in nearly a year that member(s) of the community had our backs and we are thankful no damage or loss of life occurred," he continued. "Just over a year ago, good samaritans helped us during the protests and this Sunday another Good Samaritan helped move the burning debris off of our propane storage."
Woods referred to last June's protests in Cincinnati and throughout the country against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death. Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, had placed Floyd, who was Black, under arrest and knelt on his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds, impeding his breathing and ultimately killing him. Chauvin was found guilty of murder in April.
During a protest in Cincinnati, Woods said that he got a call that the downtown store was being vandalized. When he arrived 45 minutes later, he found previously toppled plants put back onto their carts and racks. He told WXIX-TV that video surveillance had shown several people cleaning things up.
