Man arrested after allegedly setting fire outside North Charleston shopping center

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A 31-year-old man was arrested Monday on a charge of arson and other crimes after allegedly setting a fire outside a North Charleston shopping center.

An arson investigator with the North Charleston Police Department was called to a shopping center near Eagle Landing Boulevard for what was described as a “possible incendiary fire.”

North Charleston firefighters told the investigator the suspect had just run away on foot. The officer caught up with the man, who repeatedly refused commands. Brandon Allen Mauldin was eventually taken into custody after backup from the Hanahan Police Department arrived.

An investigation revealed the fire was ignited by a “natural or ordinary combustible” on the ground, according to a report from NCPD. The source, according to the investigator, was identified as an open flame that was set by hand.

Police said the fire spread to a half-acre area of land which caused damage to trees, grass, and a utility pole.

Mauldin’s charges include third-degree arson, grand larceny less than $10,000, and willfully burning lands of another.

He was previously arrested on March 6 for ‘breach of peace,’ according to jail records. He was released then on a $200 personal recognizance charge.