COLUMBUS: The plan was simple enough. Drive to the old workplace in the dark, slip through the gate, fill up some containers with fuel, and disappear before anyone noticed.
It did not go that way for William Bush.
Bush, 31, now faces a felony arson charge after surveillance cameras captured what investigators say was a fuel theft gone catastrophically wrong at a storage site on the 1800 block of Walcutt Road on Columbus’s far west side. And when detectives called him in for an interview, he showed up with singed eyebrows, burns on his right cheek and ear, and his right arm wrapped in a large bandage.
The burns told the story before he said a word.
What Happened on Walcutt Road
The 1800 block of Walcutt Road is not a place most Columbus residents think about. It sits in a quiet industrial stretch on the far west side of the city, near the old Buckeye Yard railyard south of Hilliard, surrounded by logistics operations, warehouse properties, and fuel storage facilities — the kind of area where workers come and go on schedules and security cameras run around the clock.
According to Columbus police, surveillance footage from the site captured a Dodge Dakota pickup pulling up to a locked gate. The driver let himself in — investigators say he knew the property because he used to work there. Bush was employed at the site until August 2025, when he was fired.
The video then showed the driver pulling up near fuel storage tanks and filling containers in the truck bed. It looked like a clean theft in progress. Then came the flash.
Investigators say Bush was lighting a cigarette when the fire ignited. The truck bed caught first. Bush apparently tried to drive away but realized the truck was on fire and reversed back toward the fuel tanks — a decision that spread the flames significantly rather than containing them.
The Interview That Gave Him Away
Even if the cameras had not caught everything, Bush’s appearance at the police interview might have finished the case on its own.
Columbus police investigators noted his singed eyebrows. They noted the burns on his right cheek and ear. They noted the large bandage wrapped around his right arm. These are not injuries a person picks up on an ordinary Monday.
Faced with the surveillance footage and his own visible injuries, Bush told investigators the fire started accidentally while he was lighting a cigarette. He also admitted to stealing the gasoline, according to the police report.
The Charge and What Comes Next
Bush has been charged with one count of felony arson. A Franklin County judge set his bond at $40,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 24.
Under Ohio law, arson involving a structure or property is a third-degree felony, which carries a potential prison sentence of nine months to three years. If prosecutors can show the fire created a substantial risk of serious harm which a fuel storage site fire almost certainly would — the charge could be elevated. Authorities have not said whether additional charges are being considered.
No one else was injured in the fire. The Columbus Division of Police has not released an estimate of the property damage.
Not the First Time a Fired Worker Came Back
Cases involving former employees returning to workplace property after being fired are not rare in Columbus or nationally. Criminologists who study workplace-related crimes note that the period immediately following a termination carries elevated risk for both property crimes and more serious incidents, particularly when an employee feels the firing was unjust.
Bush was let go from the Walcutt Road site in August 2025, nearly eight months before the fire. Investigators have not publicly said what led to his termination or what his motive for returning was beyond taking the fuel.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information about the incident can contact the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-4545.
This article is based on the Columbus Division of Police incident report, Franklin County Municipal Court records, and reporting from NBC4.