PSP: Man torched Seltzer home in attempt to evict roommate
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Firefighters battle a blaze on Main Street in Seltzer on Dec. 2, 2020.
SELTZER – Yesterday’s blaze in this Norwegian Township village was an apparent last-ditch attempt to evict a roommate, state troopers alleged in their criminal complaint, and said roommate had to be rescued from a rooftop.
John Jefferson, 59, of 312 Main Street, is facing a slew of felony charges related to the blaze, which destroyed two duplexes and damaged the village’s firehouse around 3:00pm Wednesday.
According to the criminal complaint filed against him by Trooper Matthew Tonitis of the Schuylkill Haven barracks, troopers were advised of the blaze at 3:06pm, and received an update on the way that Jefferson had told a neighbor he lit the fire.
Tonitis arrived at 3:50pm to find the two duplexes — four homes at 312, 314, 316, and 318 Main Street — engulfed in flames, and he was advised by fire officials that everyone made it out safely. He was then directed to a Schuylkill EMS ambulance to speak to one of the residents, Christopher Terway.
Terway told Tonitis he lived at 312 Main Street with a friend, Jefferson. He was sleeping in the front bedroom on the second floor of the residence when he smelled smoke, he said, and could feel the heat of the fire coming from the rear of the home.
Terway climbed out onto the front porch roof where he was rescued by a neighbor with a ladder, though two of his dogs perished in the blaze, he told troopers.
Tonitis then spoke to one of the neighbors who rescued Terway, Chris Pretti. Pretti, who lives caross the street from the fire, told troopers that, around 3:00pm, he saw smoke coming from the home across from him and spotted Terway standing on his roof.
Pretti grabbed a ladder and, with the assistance of neighbors, helped Terway down. Pretti then went to the rear of the home to find the source of the smoke, he told troopers, where he found the rear of the home engulfed as Jefferson stood against his shed.
Pretti asked Jefferson what had happened, to which Jefferson admitted to setting the blaze, he told troopers.
Jefferson was taken into custody at the scene and interviewed at the state police barracks. He told troopers that he owned 312 Main Street and lived there with Terway.
He said he had been trying to get Terway to leave, and had asked on three occasions Wednesday. Around 3:00pm, Jefferson said he was watching TV in his shed when he decided to start the fire.
Jefferson told troopers he grabbed a roll of toilet paper from a downstairs bathroom, took it to the back porch, dumped gasoline on it, and set the fire with a lighter before returning to his shed.
The fire, troopers said, spread to three other homes, 314, occupied by Theresa Ernst; 316 owned by Robert McDonald, Jr. and rented to Angelo Antonucci; and 318, owned and occupied by McDonald.
Jefferson was arraigned Wednesday night on four felony charges of arson – reckless endangerment of inhabited buildings and criminal mischief, three felony counts of arson – danger of death or injury, two felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony count of arson of an inhabited building, and three misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment.
Jefferson was committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko’s Port Carbon courtroom.
About Author
