On a night in June 2000, Jeff Luers and Craig Marshall were arrested in Oregon, United States, accused of setting fire to three trucks at a Chevrolet dealership earlier that night[1]. Jeff Luers was later also charged with an attempted arson of trucks at a petroleum products distributor in May 2000.
The June arson charge was based in part on a physical surveillance operation conducted on the night of the arson. The May arson attempt charge was based in part on incendiary devices found intact at the site of the attempted arson and on the raid of a storage unit rented by Jeff Luers.
In a first trial, Jeff Luers was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison, which was reduced to 10 years on appeal in 2008[2]. Craig Marshall was sentenced to 5 and a half years in a plea deal[3].
Techniques used
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Forensics | ||
| Trace evidence | In the raid of the storage unit, the police found a bolt cutter matching the cuts in the fence surrounding the site of the May arson attempt[1]. | |
| House raid | During the raid of the storage unit, investigators found[1]:
| |
| Physical surveillance | ||
| Covert | On the night of the June arson, the arsonists were being tailed by a surveillance team — police officers in one or more unmarked cars — as they drove to the arson site[1]. They parked their car close to the arson site, watched by the surveillance team. They got out of their car to continue on foot, at which point the surveillance team lost sight of them. They ran back to their car 10 minutes later, at which point the surveillance team regained sight of them. They drove away from the arson site. More than an hour later, the surveillance team — still tailing the arsonists — heard on the police radio system about a fire at the arson site and asked local police officers to stop the arsonists' car for a roadside check, suspecting that they were involved in the fire. Half an hour later, when fire investigators at the arson site reported that they believed the fire had been set intentionally, the arsonists were arrested. | |