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DC man sentenced to nearly 5 years for setting apartment building on fire

A D.C. man was sentenced to 57 months in prison Friday for setting fire to an apartment building where his own family lived.

Ronnie Bookhardt, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of arson on Feb. 9, which led to his sentence, including three years of supervised release.

Prosecutors said Bookhardt was captured on surveillance video entering a stairwell in the four-story apartment building at 601 L St. in Southeast D.C. before 4:50 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2022.

Video showed him stopping outside an apartment where some family members lived, pouring gasoline on the floor and then lighting it before walking away.

The fire quickly spread, but the building’s sprinkler system activated and helped to contain the flames.

The damages were over $200,000, but no residents were injured.

According to court documents, the fire was sparked by an ongoing dispute between Bookhardt and members of his family who lived in the building.

He was arrested two days after the fire and has been held behind bars since then.

Washington archbishop removes priest as exorcist after comments on UFOs and demons

The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons. McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
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