Man arrested for arson in Dorchester County

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – The Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) has arrested and charged a man for 2nd Degree Arson early Saturday morning in Summerville.

Officials say around 1 a.m. the Dorchester Fire Rescue (DCFR) responded to a fire at Thomas Concrete on Jedburg Rd. and upon arrival located two trucks on fire. After further investigation fuel tank caps for at least one of the trucks were not in place.

DCSO says another deputy was responding to a call for a suspicious person in the immediate area when DCFR personnel witnessed a subject, later identified as Seth Brock Spigner, 23, of Charleston, emerge from the woods near the incident location. Spigner walked to his vehicle and left the area.

DCSO stopped the vehicle and while conducting a field interview officials said Spigner displayed specks of red or pink paint in the cracks of his fingernails. Preliminary investigation revealed multiple trucks on the property had messages applied in red spray paint saying “From Weelaunee” and “You build it, We burn it.”

According to DCSO, video surveillance shows a tall male (of unknown race) carrying a white canister, entering the property around 12:24 a.m. and manipulating fuel caps on multiple trucks before setting fire to two trucks. The video also shows the male leaving the property from the same wood line.

Further investigation of the message “From Weelaunee” revealed the message may be referring to the Weelaunee forest in Atlanta, GA. Officials say the Waulaunee forest is the focus of an extremist group Climate Justice Alliance, which has recently protested the construction in the forest for a law training facility.

Due to possible relations to an extremist group, DCSO says investigators contacted an ATF agent for further guidance. ATF says two similar incidents, in which concrete companies were being targeted, happened in Atlanta, GA and Raleigh, N.C.

The concrete company in Atlanta had trucks burned, with similar messages. In Raleigh, another Thomas Concrete location had 16 trucks burned.

After an investigation with ATF and the City of Charleston Police Department, investigators were led back to Spigner. He was charged with 2nd Degree Arson with a bond set at $25,000.