Turnersville man charged after two vehicle fires in Washington Township

A 19-year-old Turnersville man was arrested and charged after two vehicle fires reported Saturday night, June 27, in Washington Township, Gloucester County, police said.

Aiden Logrande faces two counts of arson, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and multiple counts of criminal mischief, according to reports on the investigation. He was being held at Salem County Correctional Facility pending court proceedings.

What police said happened

One vehicle fire was reported near Tara Drive. A witness’s home-surveillance video allegedly showed a person breaking the window of a parked car, pouring a flammable liquid into the vehicle and igniting it.

Police later found a second vehicle burning near Harrogate Court and Tenby Drive. Investigators said they recovered a hatchet believed to have been used in the incidents.

The locations place the reported fires in residential areas connected to Tara Drive, Harrogate Court and Tenby Drive. The incidents involved separate vehicles and led to an investigation that expanded beyond the two fires.

Earlier windshield damage included in case

Police also filed additional criminal-mischief charges related to earlier reports of broken windshields at a nearby condominium development.

Those allegations add property-damage incidents to the arson case. They do not establish that Logrande was responsible for every reported windshield incident; the charges concern the incidents identified by investigators in connection with the case.

For residents in the affected Washington Township neighborhoods, the investigation followed repeated reports involving vehicle damage and fire. The case combines the two June 27 fires, the surveillance-video account, the recovered hatchet and the earlier windshield reports.

Case remains pending

Logrande remains accused, not convicted. The charges have not been resolved by a plea or verdict, and he was held at the Salem County facility while court proceedings continued.

The next known step is the continuation of those proceedings. A final disposition was not reported.