A Michigan man was arrested for allegedly driving 11 hours to Pennsylvania and setting fire to the home of a romantic rival. This resulted in the destruction of the house and the tragic death of the family’s two dogs.
Despite the devastating incident, the six family members who were present at the time, including the elderly parents of one of them, managed to survive. They were rushed to the hospital to receive treatment for burns and injuries caused by smoke inhalation, as reported by Philly Burbs.
Harrison Jones, 21, is currently being held in a Michigan jail as he awaits extradition to Pennsylvania. The charges against him in Pennsylvania include 13 felonies, such as six counts of attempted homicide and four counts of arson, in addition to multiple misdemeanors.
“This is a family’s worst nightmare to be asleep in their home, not knowing a stranger broke into their home and attempted to take their lives by setting their home on fire,” Bucks County District Attorney Jen Schorn said. “This defendant’s actions are incomprehensible.”
Shorn and Bensalem Director of Public Safety William McVey described during a news conference on Monday how investigators used surveillance video and license plate trackers to track Jones’ trip and identify him as the suspect.
“This family was extremely lucky to survive this,’ McVey said. “It is clear to us the Mr. Jones had murderous intentions that evening.”
Authorities said Jones’ high school ex-girlfiend had met one of the members of the Bensalem family online and was planning to meet him Valentine’s Day weekend. Jones was to drive her to Pennsylvania, but he made the trip on February 10 instead.
According to police, a woman who lived in the home woke up early that morning to one of the family dogs making a ruckus. She got up and saw a hooded figure downstairs, but thought it was her 22-year-old son and went back to bed. The sounds downstairs continued, however, and she got up again, this time finding several rooms downstairs ablaze.
She roused them family and got them out — one escaped by jumping from a second story window. All were hospitalized after the fire.
McVey said video showed a black Mercedes stopping at the house about 20 minutes before the fire was reported then leaving about 10 minutes later. Surveillance video showed an explosion, and a license plate reader captured the plates on the Volkswagen, registered to a man in Rockford, Michigan.
Authorities tracked vehicle to a home where Jones lived and searched it finding over-the-counter cream to treat burns as well as gauze and a lock-picking kit. Additionally, Jones’ father told investigators a cellphone tracking app showed his son in Pennsylvania two hours after the fire started.
Jones, when questioned, said he’d never been Pennsylvania in his life.
“[Detectives] have literally mapped this defendant’s movements from his hometown in Michigan to the scene of the crime and back.” Schorn said. “They’ve given us the tools we need to make sure this defendant is prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
