Mobile Fire-Rescue has closed out a case that began with a public appeal for help finding an arson suspect, announcing that the man it had sought in connection with two fires at a Crichton business was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Investigators spent December 2019 looking into two separate fires set at the Dairy Queen on Springhill Avenue in the Crichton community, the first on December 13 and a second exactly one week later. At the time, investigators identified 36-year-old Demarcus Battles as a suspect and asked the public to call 911 with any information on his whereabouts, describing him as potentially dangerous.
Suspect cleared, arrest made
That request ended on December 31, when the department announced that Battles had been cleared in connection with the fires. Investigators have since arrested another man, Paul Law, in the case.
The department has not released additional details about what led investigators to clear Battles or what evidence tied Law to the fires. The case remains part of the department’s ongoing fire investigations in Mobile County.