Minersville police charge jailed man with arson

April 04--PORT CARBON -- A man already in prison was charged Thursday with setting a fire in Minersville on Dec. 29, 2013, that damaged two homes.

Caleb D. Green, formerly of 21 S. Front St., Minersville, and currently incarcerated at State Correctional Institution/Mahanoy, was arraigned on charges of two felony counts of arson-endangering persons; one felony count each of arson-endangering property, risking a catastrophe and criminal mischief; and a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person.

Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, set bail at $100,000 straight cash and ordered Green returned to the state correctional facility where he is held for a probation violation stemming from drug offenses.

Police charged Green with setting a fire at 2:45 p.m. at 524 Pine Hill St. that destroyed that home and an attached home at 522 Pine Hill St., and damaged a home at 526 Pine Hill St.

The 524 Pine Hill St. property is owned by Joseph and Rebekah Johnson, police said, adding that Joseph Johnson was in Schuylkill County Prison at the time of the fire.

At the scene, police said officers saw a black man, later identified as Green, running from the property.

Retired state police fire investigator David Klitsch, at the scene representing Nationwide Insurance Co., determined the fire started in the kitchen of the 524 Pine Hill St. home. That room, police said, is in the basement directly under a room occupied by Rebekah Johnson's uncle, Douglas Good, who is handicapped, and who, at the time of the fire, had to be rescued by neighbors.

Klitsch also determined the fire was intentionally set, police said.

On Dec. 30, police interviewed Good, then 62, who said he heard a bang and thump and pulled the covers over his head. After pulling the covers down, Good told officers he smelled smoke and found heavy smoke when he opened his bedroom door that leads to the living room.

Good said the front door and storm door were open and he was able to make it there, where he was helped by neighbors.

Also Dec. 30, police interviewed Green at their police station and again Jan. 24 at SCI/Mahanoy. He was interviewed Feb. 12 by a state police trooper.

During the interviews, police said Green admitted being at the home at the time the fire started.

After reviewing the evidence, statements and investigative notes, police said the following facts remain undisputed:

- Green was at the home before and during the fire.

- Green accessed the exact location of where the fire started before it was lit.

- He was seen fleeing the home just before smoke came from the building.

- All reasonable accidental ignition sources were eliminated from where the fire originated.

- Statements that Green made regarding the fire, and his actions following the fire, contradict observations of witnesses, crime scene evidence and the analysis of the crime scene.

A preliminary hearing on the charges will be held at 9 a.m. Tuesday before Plachko in his Port Carbon courtroom.

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