Men arrested for starting church fire

March 30--Westover Police Chief Rick Panico said three men were arrested Thursday morning in connection to a fire set on March 17 in Destiny Deliver-ance Ministries church, at 110 Monongahela Ave.

According to Panico, Joseph Wilson Jr., 21, Jordan Lipscomb, 18, and Michael Pyles, 20, were charged in connection to the fire. Wilson and Lipscomb are charged with second-degree arson. Pyles is charged as an accessory.

Panico explained that officers are still looking for a second vehicle tied to the fire and potentially at least one additional suspect.

Panico said there doesnâ??t appear to be any indication that the arson was racially motivated. He explained that Destiny Deliverance Ministries is an African- American church, and the men in custody are white.

When asked if the arson is being considered a hate crime or if there was any indication that race was a motive, he said the investigation launched by the Westover Police and the West Virginia Fire Marshalâ??s office has not indicated as much.

â??Iâ??m not going to pull that trigger for one main reason, I donâ??t know that it is. Iâ??m not going to charge someone with something that I donâ??t believe,â? Panico said, later adding, â??If I had it, I would, but I donâ??t have it.â?

A message left with Mon-ongalia County Prosecutor Perri Jo DeChristopherâ??s office was not returned in time for this report.

Aiding the investigation is the fact that all of the activities around the back of the church were caught on a surveillance camera at a nearby business.

According to Panico, at about 7 p.m. March 17, the suspects stole a can of gas from a different residence before arriving at the church. After attempts, a brick is thrown through a window in the back of the building and the accelerant is thrown into the churchâ??s basement, but the fire doesnâ??t catch.

At that point the suspects leave. After 10 minutes or so, a different vehicle pulls up, a single occupant gets out and relights the fire, which begins burning with more intensity. The unknown suspect leaves and the original vehicle returns, carrying the men in custody. They get out of the vehicle and call 911. The men were at the scene when first responders arrived.

Panico said the detail in the video footage isnâ??t sufficient to see if the unknown suspect was one of the original three men, but the second vehicle is distinguishable and was linked to a nearby address.

â??We went and traced the route from when they left the first time and when they came back. Weâ??re looking for that second car, and weâ??re following leads on that second car. Weâ??ve had the video enhanced. We sent that to technical experts,â? Panico said. â??We put all this together and gave it to the prosecutor. The prosecutor said, â??Yeah, thereâ??s enough there.â?? So we made an arrest this morning.â?

Panico said all three were staying at a mobile home owned by a relative of one of the men. He said warrants were issued for their arrests and a West Virginia Division of Natural Resources officer got a hit on the vehicleâ??s tag Thursday morning on W.Va. 100, at which point they were taken into custody.

While the church wasnâ??t destroyed, there is obvi-ous fire damage to its lower level.

â??It wasnâ??t complete structural damage, and [the church] has insurance to cover it,â? Panico said. â??Itâ??s the idea that someone thinks they can get away with it here.â?

Efforts to contact a representative of the church were not successful. A number listed for the church is disconnected. The churchâ??s pastor is Shirley Robinson.

Follow The Dominion Post on Twitter @DominionPostWV. Email Ben Conley: bconley@dominionpost.com.

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