More than five years after authorities identified a man they suspected of setting a dumpster fire in Wicomico County, a mysterious sailboat that washed ashore in Delaware helped lead to his arrest.
In May 2021, firefighters responded to the 32200 block of Beaver Run Drive in Salisbury for a fire that resulted in some $5,000 in damage, a news release from the fire marshal’s office said.
Through witnesses and surveillance footage, investigators determined the blaze was intentionally set and identified a Tennessee man named Michael Summar as responsible, according to court documents.
Video shared with authorities the day after the incident showed someone wearing a dark shirt, light pants and a baseball cap walking to the rear of the dumpster and lingering before reemerging to watch smoke and fire rise from it, documents said.
When a deputy fire marshal spoke to Summar the day after the fire, Summar was wearing similar clothes as the man in surveillance videos. When asked if he had seen anything that could help with the arson investigation since he had been in the general area, Summar denied seeing anything related to the fire and said he had been at a Greyhound bus station all night.
Summar also told the marshal he was heading to Baltimore, where his cousin had lined up a job for him and a place to stay.
A warrant was issued for Summar’s arrest, but it wasn’t until last week that the 46-year-old was extradited to Maryland after authorities in Delaware discovered his boat.
On Oct. 13, a large sailboat named Piper ran aground on the beach at Cape Henlopen, where the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean meet, and was removed from the water, said Michael Globetti, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources. Officials didn’t immediately answer questions about what may have caused the boat to wash ashore.
The sailboat previously caught the eye of authorities in New York after it was found, seemingly abandoned, offshore near East Hampton Village in September. The owner, who was unnamed in police reports, told authorities he was sailing from Massachusetts to Florida, according to the East Hampton Star.
Delaware authorities realized that Summar, the boat’s owner, had an outstanding warrant in Maryland. He was arrested and extradited.
Summar was charged on Oct. 15 with first-degree malicious burning of a trash container and destruction of property worth over $1,000 and is being held at the Wicomico County Detention Center without bond.
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