A Michigan man allegedly drove over 700 miles to Pennsylvania and set fire to a house because one of the residents was speaking with his ex-girlfriend.
Harrison Jones, of Rockford, is now facing six counts of attempted homicide, arson, and reckless endangerment, among other accusations.
The backstory:Â According to Bensalem Township police, first responders were called to a home in the 5200 block of Merganser Way shortly after 5:20 a.m. on February 10 due to reports of a house on fire. William McVey, the director of Bensalem Township Public Safety, stated that someone was awake inside the house and heard noises before the fire.
“We’ve also learned that the mother of the house had heard noises coming from downstairs. She got out to check her residence and saw a male subject walking down the steps. She believed that that was her son at the time, which we determined later it was not,” he said. “So, she went back to the bedroom, continued to hear those noises, and went downstairs.”
When she observed the flames, she was able to assist in the evacuation of five other persons who were inside the house. They all suffered smoke inhalation but are expected to recover, while two dogs were killed.
“We’re very thankful for that mother for having the intuition to go downstairs and investigate it, because if she didn’t wake people and evacuate them, this would have been a very different outcome,” McVey said.
Detectives decided that the fire was perhaps arson-related. Just after 5 a.m., a neighbor’s surveillance camera caught a black sedan passing the residence before a figure stepped out and headed toward it while holding an object. He quickly returned to his vehicle and drove away as the home exploded.
Using intersection cameras, detectives located and traced the vehicle. The Volkswagen Passat drove through an intersection with a license plate reader, allowing authorities to determine that the vehicle was registered to a guy in Michigan.
Detectives then examined the people who lived in the burned-out house and discovered that one of the inhabitants, a 21-year-old guy, had been chatting to a woman from Michigan, and she planned to fly to Pennsylvania to meet him soon. Detectives discovered that the woman’s ex-boyfriend, Harrison Jones, resides in the same Michigan home as the Passat’s registered owner.
Bensalem police contacted the Kent County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan for help in the investigation. Deputies in Michigan searched Jones’ Rockford house and seized the Passat, lock-picking tools, a computer, and a phone, according to authorities. When deputies approached Jones, they discovered he had suspicious burns on his arms.
“They were able to seize the car, recover lidocaine, cream for burns, gauze wrappings and a lock-pick that I’m sure he used that night to break into the house,” McVey said.
After receiving this proof, an arrest warrant was issued, and Jones was arrested.
According to McVey, Jones drove to Bensalem with the sole goal of setting fire to the home.
“Our investigations revealed that he drove approximately 11 hours, about 730 miles to get to that residence. He sat in a neighborhood for roughly two hours prior to setting the fire and then traveled directly back,” he said. “His motive was, in fact, to burn the house and then travel home.”
What’s next: Jones is currently awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
McVey commended his department and the Kent County deputies for their swift action in apprehending the suspect, even though he managed to escape and return to Michigan.
“I would like to thank the Kent County Sheriff’s Office for the work they’ve done. They treated it like it was their own case. We can’t thank them enough,” he said. “And I would like to commend our staff here in Bensalem. To have this guy identified and locked up within two days of committing a crime like this is spectacular work.”
