Brownsville man accused of setting fire to Shenandoah Family Development unit
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Smoke can be seen coming from the Shenandoah Family Development in Turkey Run as firefighters battle a structure fire on Dec. 31, 2024.
TURKEY RUN – A Brownsville man was charged Thursday in a New Year’s Eve blaze that left a unit at the Shenandoah Family Development in the Turkey Run section destroyed.
Jesus Reinaldo Nieves Rivera, 41, of 1114 West Coal Street, was charged with felony arson, causing or risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, and misdemeanor theft and reckless endangerment charges.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Shenandoah Police Patrolman Mark Hysock, first responders were called to the 208 Pioneer Road around 1:43am Dec. 31 for the fire.
The caller said they heard smoke alarms sounding from the unit and saw fire through the front window.
Shenandoah Police Captain Travis Bowman and Patrolman Mindy Parker-Petrus arrived and found the unit aflame and began evacuating the neighboring units.
Arriving firefighters had to force entry into the apartment, which was locked, and found a loveseat in the living room aflame. That fire was quickly extinguished and contained to the unit’s living room.
Crews ventilating the structure found fire inside a dresser in a second floor bedroom, wholly unconnected to the fire downstairs.
At that point, all firefighters were evacuated until a State Police fire marshal could arrive and investigate.
The fire marshal determined the fire had two separate points of origin and was arson.
Forty-one firefighters responded from Shenandoah’s five fire companies and mutual aid units from Frackville and Mahanoy City.
Police determined that all 41 firefighters along with 17 occupants in the Shenandoah Family Development were recklessly put at risk by the blaze.
The unit was determined to be a total loss and the damage exceeds $100,000, police said. The tenant did not have renters insurance.
The tenant said that she had been staying with a friend for the holidays and had asked Nieves Rivera to stop by the unit to get paperwork she needed. He arrived on Dec. 30 and could not find the paperwork, the tenant said. He came back around midnight, called the tenant, and walked through the home seeking the paperwork again.
Security camera footage was obtained from the nearby Redner’s Warehouse Markets location and showed a Ford Escape matching one used by Nieves Rivera entering the parking lot. An occupant later identified as Nieves Rivera then walked through the backyard and used the rear door to the unit.
Around midnight, the occupant exited the residence with an object in their hand. The occupant went back inside and exited again, using his phone. No one else is seen using the back door of the home before the fire was called in. Security camera footage from the Schuylkill County Housing Authority showed no one using the front door either.
The tenant provided a written statement regarding the events that immediately followed the fire in Spanish, translated to English.
Nieves Rivera told the tenant that he didn’t smell anything burnt in the home and that he disconnected the TVs. By the time of the fire, he was passing Cabelas in Hamburg.
In the weeks following the fire, the tenants found that several items were missing from portions of the apartment not involved in the fire, including four pairs of brand new shoes, a television, and more.
Troopers also executed a search warrant on T-Mobile which showed Nieves Rivera’s phone was in the area at the time of the fire before travelling to Northampton, where the tenant said Nieves Rivera delivered their paperwork.
He was arraigned and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $150,000 bail.
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