Reward offered for fugitive released by Boston police

By Maddie Hanna, Globe Correspondent

The Cambridge police and fire departments are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of a fugitive, wanted on murder charges in New Jersey, who they believe started a fire in a Cambridge high-rise on May 8.

Tormu Prall, 35, of Trenton, was in police custody in Boston for two days in mid-May, but released before fingerprint analysis revealed him to be the man charged with starting a fire that killed his brother in Trenton, N.J. Boston police later blamed a computer glitch for the mistake.

Prall, who has used several aliases, told Boston police his name was Denzel Willington. Cambridge police officials said they knew him as Reginald Sanders. Lieutenant Brian Higgins of the Cambridge Fire Department called the case "very frustrating" today at a news conference.

"You're dealing with No. 1, a person who's [from] out of state, and No. 2, he's homeless," Higgins said.

Prall allegedly started a fire outside an apartment door in the Cambridge high-rise at 243 Broadway about 2:30 a.m. on May 8 because he wanted to get his former girlfriend, whom he had dated for three months, to come out of the building, said Deputy Lester Sullivan of the Cambridge Police Department.

Police described Prall as a black man who weighs 164 pounds, is 5 feet 10 inches tall, and has brown eyes and dark brown hair. Anyone with knowledge about Prall, who frequents Boston and Cambridge homeless shelters, is urged to contact the police.

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