A Michigan man set a Bensalem house fire to target his ex’s new boyfriend, police say
Harrison Jones, of Rockford, Mich., targeted the home’s residents in a plot born of a love triangle, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
A fire that killed two dogs and forced a family to make a hasty, early-morning escape from their Bensalem home last week was set by a man who targeted the victims in a plot born of a love triangle, police said Monday.
Harrison Jones, 22, of Rockford, Mich., has been charged with six counts of attempted murder, arson, and related crimes for the Feb. 10 blaze authorities say he started at the home on Merganser Way. Jones remained in custody Monday in his native Michigan, and was awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
Jones drove more than 700 miles to set the fire, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. A man who lived in the home had begun a long-distance relationship with Jones’ ex-girlfriend and high school sweetheart, who planned to visit him in Bensalem later that week.
Jones and the woman, whom police did not identify, remained friends after their romantic relationship ended, the affidavit said, and she had asked Jones to drive her to meet her new beau. Instead, police said, Jones made the trip alone, days early, and set a fire in the home’s living room just after 5 a.m.
A woman who lived in the house heard footsteps and awakened to see Jones, initially mistaking him for her son, the affidavit said. She then saw that a fire had been set in the living room and kitchen and alerted the five other residents who were inside at the time. Some of them had to jump out of windows to escape, police said.
All six people were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment of burns and other injuries.
Detectives investigating the fire found surveillance footage from a neighbor’s camera that showed Jones parking a Volkswagen Passat near the house, running toward it, and then running back to his car minutes later, the affidavit said.
Nearby license-plate cameras helped police identify the car as belonging to Jones’ father. Police also found surveillance footage of Jones stopping at a Wawa about an hour away from Bensalem at 1 a.m. on the morning fire was set.
When contacted by police, Jones’ father said he had been using an iPhone app to track his son’s movements through Pennsylvania a few hours after the fire was set.
Jones, in a later interview with investigators, denied traveling to Pennsylvania. But inside his home, detectives found a lockpicking set, locks to practice on, bandages, and burn cream, the affidavit said. Jones also had fresh burns on his arm, the document said.