School Fire Leads to Reckless Endangerment and Arson Indictment for Prince Frederick Man

Juan Jared Perez-Lopez, 20, of Prince Frederick, has been indicted by a Calvert County grand jury in connection with a February fire at Calvert High School. Perez-Lopez was indicted on four criminal counts, including arson and reckless endangerment, stemming from the incident that temporarily disrupted operations at the school and endangered over 1,100 individuals.

According to court documents filed by Deputy Fire Marshal Helys D. Valles of the Office of the State Fire Marshal, a fire was reported at Calvert High School on the morning of February 11, 2025, at approximately 9:38 a.m. The fire occurred in the third-floor male bathroom and caused damage to a toilet paper dispenser and the divider wall between the third and fourth stalls.

The fire was extinguished by school personnel using a fire extinguisher located on-site. During the investigation, SRO Contic advised that a student had been identified in connection to the incident. Surveillance video showed Juan Jared Perez-Lopez exiting the bathroom at the time the fire was active.

During a Mirandized interview conducted at the Calvert County Detention Center, Perez-Lopez admitted that on the morning of the incident, he had taken a lighter from his home before leaving for school. He told investigators that between his first and second class periods, he entered the third-floor male bathroom and set the toilet paper dispenser on fire.

Read more: Southern Maryland News Net