Deborah Gates

dgates@delmarvanow.com

It wasn't the first time someone burned the Trump political billboard along a bustling Princess Anne commercial strip.

Police say the Friday, April 14 burning yielded a surveillance image of the suspect and her vehicle, and they arrested a 19-year-old Baltimore woman who fire investigators said acted on "political differences with the billboard postings." It happened just before 3 p.m. along the retail stretch that includes a Food Lion supermarket and McDonald's restaurant.

The billboard also promotes Republican Kathy Szeliga's Senate run. Szeliga lost to Democrat Chris Van Hollen.

Investigators found suspect D'Asia R. Perry at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she was taken into custody and charged with arson and the commission of a hate crime along with related offenses, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said early Saturday, April 15. It was unclear whether Perry is a UMES student. She was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond after appearing before a Somerset County District Court commissioner, the agency said.

The fire marshal also is investigating the involvement by a second suspect investigators said was with Perry in a silver Volkswagen Beetle, the office said.

Someone set fire to the white-on-blue Trump billboard near Food Lion in late 2016 but the case remains unsolved, said Jamie Wink, whose father Robert Wink owns the sign. The family operates Wink's Sporting Goods on property along the stretch. At the time, Jamie Wink said he replaced the billboard that also was vandalized before the November election.

LOOK BACK: Trump political sign torched

Damage on Friday was estimated at $800, the fire marshal's office said. The fire was mostly confined to a grassy area underneath, leaving the billboard scorched but intact, Jamie Wink added.

"This is the second time someone set it on fire," said Wink on Saturday. He assumed the motive the first time, too, was political, as fire investigators said was the case with Perry.

"I would assume she had a strong dislike for President Trump," he said.

A passerby notified 911 and the Princess Anne Fire Department extinguished the fire within minutes, the fire marshal's office said. Surveillance cameras on the property captured the suspect, and footage was turned over to authorities, Wink said.

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The fire marshal's office was assisted in the investigation by the Princess Anne Police Department where Jamie Wink said his brother, Robert Wink Jr., is a police investigator.

A family member "saw smoke and we thought the woods were on fire," Jamie Wink said. "It was the ground on fire and it melted part of the sign. ."

The family is considering taking down the billboard for good, he said.

"I just hadn't gotten around to it," Wink said.

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