Two men have been charged with intentionally starting a fire that destroyed an Amish furniture store in West Mahoning Township last January, and state police say they expect to file additional arson charges for other fires. The two suspects were members of the Plumville Volunteer Fire Department at the time of the furniture store fire.
22-year-old Nicholas Leone of Creekside and 19-year-old Dylan Dalessio of Plumville were taken into custody and charged with arson-related crimes on Tuesday. Both were arraigned before District Judge Susanne Steffee and ordered held at the Indiana County Jail with bond set at $250,000 straight cash.
The furniture store along Stephenson Road was owned by 26-year-old Roman Byler. The fire was set at around 9 PM on January 25th. The 40 foot-by-80 foot wood frame structure burned quickly, as there was no phone service for Byler to call 911.
Eleven fires have been classified as arson or undetermined pending investigation in northern Indiana County. Police began investigating after a fire destroyed a house and garage on August 9th last year along Alabran Road in North Mahoning Township. The most recent fire destroyed a barn at 1201 Saint Clair Road in White Township on September 15th – less than two weeks ago. That fire and an attempted arson on July 28th along Five Points Road are now included in a $10,000 reward announcement by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and PA Crime Stoppers.
State Police Fire Marshal Greg Agosti says Leone quit the Plumville Fire Company and has applied to the Creekside Fire Company. Agosti points out that the arrests of Leone and Dalessio are unrelated to the arrest on September 12th of 52-year-olf Troy Kromer of Punxsutawney, who’s accused of setting three arson fires in North Mahoning Township.
As to Leone and Dalessio, each is charged with two counts of conspiracy to arson, two counts of reckless burning, criminal mischief, recklessly endangering, and dangerous burning.
The other arsons included in the June announcement by the ATF are:
- August 9, 2018 – farmhouse/garage – Alabran Road, Smicksburg
- December 15, 2018 – barn – Wolf Road, Smicksburg
- December 21, 2018 – barn – State Route 954, Creekside
- December 29, 2018 – garage/shed fire – Bailey Road, Washington Township
- December 29, 2018 – storage building – Whitaker & Rudolph Road, West Mahoning Township
- February 26, 2019 – Harmony Grove Lutheran Church – 5 Points Road, Creekside
- March 20, 2019 – brush fire – Getty and Pollock Roads, East Mahoning Township
- March 28, 2019 – barn fire – Barnard Road, Dayton
Anyone with information on any of the above fires, or the fires listed in the news story, should call the the State Police in Ridgway (Trooper Agosti) at 814-776-6136; State Police in Indiana at 724-357-1960; the ATF 24/7 hotline at 1-888-ATF-TIPS; PA Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS
