Bank Robber, 76, Accused of Hotel Arson

The 76-year-old bank robber who committed a $70 heist in his wheelchair last year to buy heart medicine is now accused of setting a hotel room on fire after a tiff over missing dentures, prosecutors said Wednesday.

William Henry Hart avoided prosecution last year after testifying that he was desperate for medicine, and robbed only to pay for a prescription. With the sympathy of presiding U.S. Magistrate Roger Curtis McKee, prosecution was deferred on the condition that Hart stay out of trouble for one year, said James Brannigan, chief assistant U.S. attorney here.

But on Jan. 8, three weeks before the robbery charges were to be dismissed, Hart was seen speeding in his electric wheelchair through the hotel where he lived. Moments later, he called 911 from a pay phone down the street. He gave his name and address, and said his room was aflame and that he had set the fire, arson investigators said.

A few minutes later, he called again, said San Diego Police Detective Carlos Garcia. On Friday, Hart pleaded not guilty to one felony count of arson of an inhabited dwelling.

The dispute with the Maryland Hotel began when a housekeeper inadvertently discarded Hart’s false teeth while taking out dirty laundry. Hart exchanged words with the hotel manager, then demanded a new set of dentures.

“He stood up in his chair, and leaned over the counter with a mean look on his face,” hotel manager Thomas Mix said. “He asked me if I remembered he robbed a bank. Then he said, ‘You haven’t heard the last of me.’ ”

Hart withheld $285 in rent, saying he had an appointment to be fitted with dentures by a Tijuana dentist. When he was served with a pay-or-vacate notice, Hart allegedly poured camp-stove fuel on the carpet, then set his room on fire, Garcia said.

Police did not arrest Hart until eight days after the fire because they had to find a way to jail an elderly and infirm man. Detectives arranged a security board-and-care agreement.

The accommodations by police and the legal system rankled some.

“Things weren’t going well in his life, so he turned to crime and no one did anything about it,” Mix said. “It almost gives license to any idiot who wants to start a fire and get some more attention.”

The U.S. attorney’s office is to decide Jan. 29 whether to dismiss the robbery case.