Homeless Orlando man accused of setting tent on fire with person inside

Reginald Demarcus Williams faces charges of 1st-degree arson, 3rd-degree violation of probation

Reginald Demarcus Williams (Orlando Police Department)

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A 39-year-old homeless Orlando man faces charges after police said he set a tent ablaze with another man inside, injuring the man.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Orlando Fire Department responded to reports of “a person burned in his tent” on May 28 around 3:45 p.m., but the exact location was not given.

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Responding crews were told that someone intentionally set the man’s tent on fire and Orlando police were dispatched to the scene.

Police said they found what looked to be a campsite in the woods with a partially burned tent. The fire was isolated to the tent material that was melted, officers noted.

According to the affidavit, officers used an accelerant detection K-9 to inspect the tent and the dog “demonstrated an alert on the carpet that the tent was sitting on, specifically where the carpet and tent were melted together.”

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Officer at the scene said they were able to take verbal and written statements from two neighboring campers and both witnesses said they heard the victim screaming for help, then seeing his tent on fire.

According to the affidavit, the witnesses described hearing the victim yell something about “Marco,” a man witnesses said often stays in the area.

Reginald Demarcus Williams, who is known to go by “Marco,” was identified by the witnesses in addition to the victim and was seen leaving the campsite just after the fire, police said.

According to the affidavit, the victim was transported to a local hospital as a trauma alert with burns to his arms and legs, but his condition was not specified.

When officers were able to interview the victim in the hospital, the man told police that he was in his tent when he heard someone say “knock knock,” before seeing Williams pour something on his tent and light it on fire.

Officers went to a Chevron near the camp and was able to find surveillance video of a man matching Williams’ description walking into the gas station with a red gas can make a purchase at the counter, according to the affidavit. Police said the man then proceeds to the pump and is then seen walking towards the woods where the camp is located.

Police said when they showed the video to the victim, the man positively identified the suspect as Reginald “Marco” Williams.

Officers said there was probable cause that Williams poured “a fluid” on the outside of the tent, then lit it on fire, causing the victim to be burned.

Williams was later arrested and faces charges of first-degree arson and third-degree violation of probation, according to Orlando police.


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