Man charged in West 83rd explosion has unusual and criminal past

By Mark Puente, The Plain Dealer

View full sizeThomas Ondrey, Plain Dealer fileFirefighters tackle the results of a gas explosion in an abandoned house on West 83rd St. in Cleveland, on Monday, Jan 25, 2010. The home formerly stood at center; debris from the explosion drapes the tree branches and the (Thomas Ondrey /The Plain Dealer) Cuyahoga County JailWilliam Calderwood

with Pat Galbincea

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- William Calderwood wore many hats to his neighbors on West 83rd Street.

He portrayed himself as a real-estate investor. The talkative man with a white beard was available to appear at parties as Santa Claus. To some, he was a busybody who was always in his neighbors' business.

Now Calderwood is behind bars, charged with aggravated arson after police said he blew up the house next to his on West 83rd Street. That explosion damaged 57 homes, including two owned by Calderwood, left 15 families homeless and injured three people.

Calderwood is familiar with jail. He spent 2 1/2 years in a Michigan prison for a arson conviction in 1979 and was on probation in that state for a 2005 arson conviction. He also spent time in the Macomb County Jail for a sexual offense in 1995 and a weapons charge in 2004, a jail spokesman said.

Calderwood was a fixture on television in the days after the Jan. 25 explosion, talking about how he narrowly escaped injury.

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"I'm lucky. I was walking our dog around 3 p.m., just 10 minutes before the explosion," Calderwood told The Plain Dealer the day of the explosion. "Lucky my wife was at work."

Calderwood is scheduled to appear in court Friday. His wife declined to comment when reached by phone.

A fire official said they were immediately suspicious of Calderwood because he offered an alibi the night of the explosion -- without being asked. Those suspicions increased when they found out he had previous convictions for arson.

The detonation left the neighborhood debris-laden and shattered the lives of people living nearby. Many of the damaged homes will likely be condemned.

Investigators eliminated all accidental causes and ruled Tuesday that the eruption had been intentionally set.

In 2005, he pleaded guilty to arson, insurance fraud and filing a false police report after torching his own house to collect insurance money, Warren police Detective David Andrews said.

He rigged the electrical wires in the attic, but the blaze didn't destroy the entire house, Andrews said. Police know Calderwood well because they have had a lot of "unusual contacts" with him over the years, Andrews added.

"He is just a weird dude," Andrews said.

The home on West 83rd Street had been vacant for a few years. Calderwood told The Plain Dealer on the day of the explosion city officials ignored his complaints about it.

"That home has been vacant the last two years, and I've been complaining since June because someone broke in that house and stole copper," he said. "I wanted to buy that home. Last Friday, I called the gas company because I smelled an odor of gas."

Calderwood's home, the vacant home and an apartment building were demolished this week. Calderwood owned another house he rented out just five doors from the vacant home.

City officials condemned the rental this week. The house had been condemned before, but Calderwood rented it out again, neighbors said.

Records indicate he owned three properties in Cuyahoga County. Calderwood passed out business cards that identified him as a "real estate investor." They were also embossed with the biblical passage Luke 6:31: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

Another business card touts Calderwood's ability to play Santa. "Invite Santa to your party. Home or office. Experienced, real beard, reasonable rates," the cards advertise.

Detectives worked the explosion case for more than week, but neighbors suspected Calderwood from the start.

"Calderwood tried to get that in his garage four or five times after the explosion, but the fire department wouldn't let him," neighbor Dave Simbeck said. "He had something in there he badly wanted to take. You know, I thought that explosion was way too big for just a gas explosion."

Other neighbors said Calderwood always involved himself in everybody's business on the street.

He called himself the "Mayor of West 83rd Street" and he's always worried about crime in the neighborhood, Simbeck said.

But another man, who did not want to give his name, questioned if Calderwood caused the massive explosion.

"Arsonists burn houses down," the man said. "Houses don't blow up. Calderwood was walking his dog up the street. But if he did it, he should be in trouble."

Calderwood and his wife were among the neighbors who filed a lawsuit Monday against Dominion East Ohio Gas Co. and a California-based investment company that owns the house. In it, they blamed the companies for the explosion.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/02/man_charged_in_west_83rd_explo.html

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