Video cameras help lead to arson arrest
BY MARY LANCASTER
Strategically placed video security cameras in two locations provided police with enough evidence to arrest long-time resident Christopher Metcalfe last Friday and charge him with setting Harbor Master Dave Fronzuto's truck on fire.

Alengthy police report detailing the incident and Metcalfe's capture was released by Nantucket District Court after Metcalfe was arraigned on Monday and released on $1,000 bail. Metcalfe is also being investigated in possible connection with several other vehicle fires that have occurred during the last few years.

According to the report, on Oct. 4 officers responded to a series of calls at approximately 7:30 p.m. stating that a vehicle was burning in the town parking lot on Washington Street. When police arrived the cab of Fronzuto's new Ford Sport Trac was engulfed with flames. Fronzuto told the officers that he had parked there shortly after 6 p.m., leaving the vehicle unlocked when he crossed the street to his office. He added that he had left $200 and some special order cigars in the console.

The next day Fronzuto alerted police that he had video surveillance files on his office computer showing suspicious activity near his vehicle just prior to the blaze. The files recorded a Land Rover with damaged front bumper pulling into the lot and parking next to Fronzuto's vehicle at approximately 7 p.m. The two men in the Land Rover were subsequently identified as David McCreary, the driver, and Christopher Metcalfe. Metcalfe stayed near the vehicles when McCreary crossed the street towards the town pier.

The camera also recorded the interior light going on in Fronzuto's vehicle which occurs when the door is opened. About a minute later Metcalfe was seen crossing Washington Street, then soon after briefly returning to the vehicles before walking away again. Within a couple of minutes the camera recorded flames inside Fronzuto's vehicle. A witness told police he observed a man in the vicinity with a limp, such as Metcalfe's.

Metcalfe followed McCreary when he returned to his Land Rover and they drove off. At that point, the cab of Fronzuto's vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. On Friday, Oct. 6 Fronzuto reported that he had seen the Land Rover with a boat attached to it and parked at Old South Market. He was able to identify the boat as McCreary's. Metcalfe was called to the police station by police where he told them he had been helping McCreary load his belongings from a locker at Nantucket Storage Center into the car in preparation for his leaving the island.

He said on the night of the fire he and McCreary had dinner together at about 6 p.m. and denied entering Fronzuto's vehicle. Police followed up on the dinner timeline given by Metcalfe and also learned that McCreary called Nantucket state police Saturday morning. A trooper who spoke with McCreary on Sunday morning reported that he said something suspicious happened on Oct. 4 he did not want connected to him.

He explained that when he returned to his Land Rover that evening after checking on his boat, Metcalfe was holding a couple cigars and money. He said he claimed the Sport Trac owner gave him the cigars, which matched Fronzuto's description, and someone else gave him the money. He added that when he and Metcalfe drove from the parking lot to dinner he noticed "a candle-like flame in the middle of the white truck."

When he mentioned it, Metcalfe allegedly told him to "just keep driving," because the vehicle owner was a drunk and probably left a lit cigar in the ashtray. Metcalfe is also alleged to have said "It would serve him right if the thing caught fire."

McCreary explained to the trooper that Metcalfe called him several times while he was driving offisland on Oct. 6 and said not to mention "the barbeque" to anyone, which convinced McCreary that he started the fire. On Oct. 13 police reviewed video recordings at Nantucket Storage Center showing the two men together on Oct. 4 with Metcalfe wearing the same clothes seen in the town lot video. McCreary returned to the island on the 13th and was interviewed by police. Metcalfe was arrested later that day and held on $50,000 bail until his arraignment Monday.

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