OCEAN CITY — A Bishopville woman is facing first-degree arson, malicious burning and other serious charges after allegedly setting a fire in her holding cell in Ocean City on Wednesday night.
Around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, an Ocean City police officer on patrol was approached by a cab driver who informed the officer he just had a female passenger jump from his vehicle in the area of 64th Street. The cabbie told police the fare that had jumped from his cab was a white female around 50 years old with a red shirt and brown hair. The cabbie told police he picked up the fare at a downtown bar and was taking her to a residence in Bishopville when she jumped out of the vehicle. The cabbie told police the woman was intoxicated and was last seen crawling in a parking lot.
The officer responded to the area and found the woman, later identified as Lisa Kerstetter, 53, of Bishopville, in the parking lot of the 64th Street shopping center. The officer approached Kerstetter and asked if she was okay. According to police reports, she was incoherent and could not respond to the officer’s questions. Her purse and belongings were strewn about the parking lot.
The officer again asked Kerstetter how he could help her and when asked if she wanted EMS to respond, she said no, according to police reports. When the officer asked Kerstetter if she wanted him to arrange for a cab to take her home, she told the officer she did not have any money. However, after the officer got consent to check her purse or wallet for money, the officer found sufficient funds to pay for a cab to Bishopville.
At that point, Kerstetter became agitated and called the OCPD officers expletives. She told one of the officers she was going to smack him and walked toward the officer, but lost her balance and fell into the side of the waiting cab. She then picked up a soft drink bottle and threw it in the direction of the shopping center and it struck the front glass door of a nail salon. At that point, Kerstetter was taken to the Public Safety Building for processing and put in a holding cell.
Shortly before midnight, OCPD officers in the arrest and detention center were standing near the front desk when they smelled something burning. The officers observed the phone system and a portion of the wall in the cell where Kerstetter were burnt.
An officer at the jail informed supervisors that while he was monitoring the intercom system, he received a call from Kerstetter informing the officer that he better let her go. The officer said while Kerstetter was using the intercom system, he heard an odd crackling sound in the background to suggest something was on fire.
When a Public Safety Aide (PSA) went to the cell, Kerstetter was observed attempting to conceal a lighter in her clothing. The PSA also observed Kerstetter’s underwear draped over the phone system still smoking and burning.
OCPD spokesperson Lindsay Richard said on Thursday that Kerstetter was able to conceal the lighter during the booking process.
“A thorough search was done during the booking process in compliance with our protocol, however, Kerstetter had a lighter hidden in a location where our detention personnel would not typically search, which is how she managed to set the small fire,” she said. “Public Safety Aides were able to extinguish it almost immediately.”
Kerstetter has been charged with first- and second-degree arson, malicious burning, three counts of reckless endangerment and alcohol-related charges stemming from the initial incident. As of Thursday, she was being held on a $50,000 bond. A preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 11.