Worcester Co. man sentenced for felony arson, malicious burning

WORCESTER CO., Md. – A Berlin man has been sentenced on felony arson charges.

We’re told the charges stem from three separate reports of structure fires, which took place throughout northern Worcester County between November 21, 2023 and March 29, 2024. The first fire happened in a house on Sinepuxent Road, where witnesses saw smoke and fire coming from an open front window. A witness also saw a person running behind the house at the time of the fire. The fire was determined to have been intentionally set in a bedroom of the home.

The second fire was reported in March 2024 by a cleaning crew working at an Ocean City hotel, when they discovered fire damage to one of the hotel rooms. Investigation revealed that an individual had rented the hotel room hours before and had left the hotel without checking out a short time later.

The third fire was determined to have been intentionally set in a house on Ocean Parkway in Ocean Pines. It was determined that a man staying at the residence had barricaded himself inside a bedroom and began lighting clothing and other items in the room on fire. As firefighters breached the bedroom door, the suspect jumped out of a window. He was eventually apprehended.

The suspect, 38-year-old Felix Rounds Jr., was linked to all three fires and was indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury in March of 2024. He was convicted of first degree malicious burning, reckless endangerment, and first degree arson. He was subsequently sentenced to 40 years incarceration, with all but 15 years of active incarceration suspended. He will be on five years of supervised probation on released, with the condition that he complete mental health counseling for pyromania, and was ordered to pay over $12,000 in restitution to multiple victims for property damage.