SNOW HILL -- An Ocean City man who set fire to an abandoned concrete plant was sentenced to 18 months in jail for second-degree arson.John Edward Cropper, 46, was first given a harsher, 10-year sentence by Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Thomas C. Groton III. The judge suspended all but 18 months of the sentence, telling Cropper if he slipped up again, he'd face the remaining years behind bars.
Additional charges of malicious destruction of property and trespassing merged with the arson charge. Cropper's sentence also includes five years of supervised probation and $1,170 in fines and court fees. The judge authorized the 18 months to be served on work release.
Assistant Worcester County State's Attorney Diane Cuilhe sought a harsher sentence -- second-degree arson carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a $30,000 fine -- based on Cropper being charged with a string of arsons in 1987.
According to Joel Todd, who was a deputy state's attorney at the time, Cropper became the main suspect in a series of Ocean City arsons in the 1980s. Officials eventually found probable cause to charge him, but in court he was found not criminally responsible.
Cuilhe said prosecutors believe Cropper poses a risk as a repeat offender based on comments he made to authorities at the time of the 1987 incidents: "I light 'em and I fight 'em."
In court, Cropper apologized for the fires set this spring, saying he's raising a 13-year-old son who "would greatly resent it" if his father were jailed. He also said he works full-time as an engineer on a clamming boat and can't miss work.
The judge noted Cropper's record of minor offenses, which include arrests for theft, burglary and drug possession.
Ocean City Police said on the evening of March 28, an officer on patrol stopped Cropper as he was walking near the Cropper Concrete plant. Though they share a name, the plant's owners and the defendant are unconnected.
Cropper, who rents a home on nearby St. Louis Avenue, claimed he was looking for his dog. The officer testified to noticing a strong smell of lighter fluid or gasoline on him. The officer let Cropper go and, with another officer, did a property check of the plant.
Inside a maintenance building, the officers smelled smoke and eventually found two small fires burning. The officers put out the fires and quickly brought Cropper back for questioning.
Cropper at first denied that he had been on the concrete plant grounds. But police found dirt on his boots that matched that of the property, and found his hands reeking of a flammable liquid, as well as black marks on his hands.
