Shenandoah man charged with setting house on fire

Feb. 25—SHENANDOAH — A borough man was jailed Wednesday, charged with setting the house he lived in on fire last month.

According to an investigator, the suspect started the blaze after recently obtaining an insurance policy for the contents in the home and was captured by his own security cameras leaving the scene.

Felix Bermejo, 28, formerly of 322 W. Penn St., was arrested by Lt. William Moyer of the Shenandoah police and charged with two felony counts of arson and related offenses; one felony count each of causing or risking a catastrophe and insurance fraud; and a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.

Bermejo was arraigned via videoconference by Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison, unable to post $50,000 straight cash bail.

Moyer said the charges are the result of a fire around 8:40 p.m. Jan. 18 at the 322 W. Penn St. home where Bermejo was living.

Firefighters were called to the home for a report of a house fire and found flames in the basement and smoke coming from other areas of the home.

Crews from Shenandoah and surrounding communities who responded extinguished the blaze, containing the damage to the home where it started.

The following day, Moyer said that Troopers John Burns and Joseph Hall, state police fire marshals, as well as Shenandoah Fire Marshal Rick Examitas, investigated the scene and determined the fire was intentionally set on a sofa in the basement.

Moyer said that he and Examitas met with Bermejo, who explained that he just obtained a $50,000 insurance policy on the home and that he was not home when the fire started.

Bermejo said he only found out about the fire when he received a telephone call from the uncle of his fiancé, according to Moyer.

The lieutenant said Bermejo had security cameras inside the home that were sent to the FBI for analysis and showed the man inside the basement of the home just after 8:30 p.m.

The footage also showed Bermejo opening the back basement door and fire in the background, Moyer said. He can also be seen adding something to the fire and exiting through the back door shutting the door behind him, according to Moyer.

On Wednesday, Moyer said Bermejo was interviewed at the state police station in Frackville and asked what he thought caused the fire. The man answered, saying the insurance investigator thought it was caused by a problem with a wire to a baseboard heater, Moyer said.

When confronted with the video, Bermejo said he could have exited the home through the back door but did not see any fire or smoke as he left, according to Moyer.

Bermejo was subsequently arrested.

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