Man charged with arson at two Waynesburg sites
A man suspected of setting weekend fires in Waynesburg, including one at St. Ann Church, was arraigned Monday night.
Jesse Patterson, 37, of Waynesburg, is charged with several felonies connected to suspected arson Sunday at St. Ann and a trailer on High Street. Court documents list Patterson as homeless; since mid-August, he had been living at Buddy’s Motel, one of the sites where police believe a fire was intentionally set Sunday.
The incidents were among several separate fires in the Waynesburg area to occur over Labor Day weekend, including at Buddy’s Motel and two other residences. The Pennsylvania State Police, Waynesburg Borough police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office, with the assistance of a K-9 team, are investigating.
All the fires are believed to be connected, state police said in a release.
The fire at St. Ann was reported Saturday night shortly before midnight. Firefighters were able to determine the fire started in a lower-level conference room in the church’s preschool area, according to the criminal complaint.
Charging documents said security cameras near the conference room showed a man police later identified as Patterson walking through the hallway of the preschool toward the fire’s ignition point at 11:43 p.m. The same cameras then showed him sprinting away five minutes later – eight minutes before the first 911 call, court documents state.
All services and events were canceled as a result of the fire. The church was founded in 1839, making it the oldest Roman Catholic church in Greene County.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Monday, a fire was reported at a trailer at 260 W. High St. Police arrived to find the building engulfed in flames, but were informed all residents had evacuated safely, according to the criminal complaint.
In that fire, police also obtained a video showing a man identified as Patterson running from the scene.
Police later tracked Patterson to a room at the Quality Inn Hotel in Franklin Township, where they took him into custody without incident, according to the criminal complaint. In the search, police found a multi-colored hoodie, blue K Swiss shoes and a black backpack with reflective strips matching the clothing seen in the videos, the complaint said.
An officer also found a grey rag inside a trash can. An arson K-9 with the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office later detected the presence of an accelerant on the rag, according to the complaint.
Charges related to the fires at Buddy’s Motel and two other buildings in the borough and the surrounding area had not been filed.
Buddy Greco, owner of Buddy’s Motel, said Tuesday that the fire had damaged several units, while others had sustained smoke or water damage.
He recognized Patterson, who he said had lived there since Aug. 18 after being referred by a county agency.
Of eight units in that wing of the motel, only one besides Patterson’s was still being occupied at the time of the fire, Greco said.
Greco said there had been no signs of disciplinary problems involving Patterson since he had moved in.
“I told him, ‘No visitors after 9 o’clock at night, no parties, nothing at night,’ and that was it,'” he said. “But after that, I hardly noticed anything.”
Patterson’s room “hardly looks like it had been slept in,” aside from the bathtub, which had been burned through after clothes had been set on fire inside, Greco said. That fire did not penetrate to the wood below it.
Officers had narrowed the source of the fire to one of two other rooms, Greco said.
Once the ATF finished investigating Tuesday, Greco planned to hire local construction companies to repair the damage. He anticipated having all units ready for occupancy by late October.
Waynesburg-Franklin Township Fire Chief Jeff Marshall said firefighters were also called Monday morning to 163 W. Lincoln St., where a bag of garbage had been set on fire on the front porch. That fire was reported as the department was heading to the trailer fire, Marshall said.
The home owner put out the fire, which caused minimal damage, Marshall said.
Marshall credited his department and the surrounding agencies with a “team effort.” The last period with that much activity was during January some years ago, when several homes caught on fire.
“There’s times we have multiple buildings on fires, calls at the same time,” he said. “To have that much activity was an anomaly, hopefully.”
Patterson is charged with arson, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless burning, risking catastrophe, criminal mischief, institutional vandalism of a place of worship and criminal trespass.
Patterson is being held at the Greene County jail, unable to post his $250,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is set for 10 a.m. Sept. 15 before Magisterial Judge Thomas Ankrom.