A man from Michigan has been taken into custody after police reported that he traveled more than 700 miles in order to set fire to the residence of a man from Pennsylvania who had spoken with his ex-girlfriend via the internet.
According to the Bensalem Police Department, Harrison Jones, age 21, from Rockford, Michigan, was taken into custody for setting fire to a house that contained six persons inside.
The individuals who were inside were taken to the hospital, but the two dogs that belonged to the family, Trey and Jett, were unable to flee the house and ended up passing away.
According to the authorities, the people who were inside the house were able to escape thanks to the mother, who heard strange noises before discovering the fire and evacuating her family.
The mother informed the authorities that some members of the family even had to leap out of windows on the second floor in order to escape the flames.
“It’s a miracle they all survived,” Bensalem Public Safety Director William McVey stated. “And we credit the mother of that house for taking the actions she did to protect her family and ensure that they all lived.”
Detectives from Bensalem Police and Bensalem Fire Rescue started looking into what caused the fire and came to the conclusion that it was “intentionally set and incendiary in nature.”
According to officials, a blurry picture of a black vehicle from a neighbor’s security camera was the only clue in the case.
Around five in the morning, a car was seen on the video pulling up to the house. A suspect is seen getting out of the car, making his way to the back of the house, where authorities claim he remained for more than 10 minutes, and then he is seen fleeing the house at high speed.
Video captures the house catching fire and an explosion that occurs around 30 seconds later.
Investigators were able to identify Jones as the owner of the car two days after the incident, secure an arrest warrant, and apprehend him.
Jones also seemed to have burns on his arm, according to investigators.
Authorities verified that Jones is the former partner of a Michigan woman who had been having an internet affair with a male Bensalem resident since 2023. The investigation into the fire’s cause is still ongoing, though.
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According to court filings, Jones was scheduled to take his ex-girlfriend to a nearby hotel soon to meet the man she was corresponding with in Bensalem. Investigators said he instead traveled alone to Bensalem with “murderous intentions.”
“He drove over 730 miles, 11 hours, to do what he did and then drove directly back home,” McVey stated.
Jones is accused with six charges of attempted murder, arson, and other felonies, according to officials. He is presently awaiting his return to Pennsylvania through extradition.
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A GoFundMe website claims that the family, which includes “Andrew and Stacy Zalenski, along with their two children, Alex and Ava, and Stacy’s parents, Joe and Karen Wendowski, lost everything.”
“Our family members are currently going through a horrendous time in their lives. If you have animals, you know they are a part of your family, and they meant everything to this family,” according to the post.
“Stacy tried to do everything she could to save them, risking her life going back into the burning home but needed to jump out of the second story window because she felt herself losing consciousness.”
The Zalenski family has “been through so much within the past three years, with Stacy fighting a long, hard battle with cancer and now losing their home,” the family member who made the GoFundMe campaign continued.
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