A Greensburg man was arrested Saturday and charged with tossing Molotov cocktails at a Burrell Township home earlier that day.
State police were summoned shortly before 8 AM Saturday to the home in the 8,000 block of Route 217 North. A 71-year-old Blairsville man who is not publicly identified reported that at 12:36 AM, he heard a loud cracking sound and looked outside, where he saw a “fireball” burning on his front lawn. He told police that after daylight, he found damage to the vinyl siding on his home and a smashed bottle in his yard and on his sidewalk, and there was an unbroken bottle on the lawn with a red rag wrapped around its neck. The bottle was filled with gasoline and the state trooper could smell gasoline in the air.
Police say they then received information that led to their identifying 20-year-old Derrick John Weber as the suspect. They located him at his Greensburg home and took him into custody. He was arraigned before District Judge Susanne Steffee and released on $25,000 unsecured bond. Charges include felony arson (danger of death or bodily injury), misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
Weber has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 16th. Police do not say if there is a relationship between Weber and the victim.
Police have not publicly connected a separate criminal case to the Molotov cocktail case, but a 71-year-old man who lives in the 8,000 block of Route 217 North in Burrell Township will be charged with shooting to death a neighbor’s dog last Thursday.
State police were called Thursday afternoon by a 19-year-old woman who said her dog was missing. The trooper canvassed the neighborhood but could not find the dog. Later that day, the woman called again and said the dog had been found buried on the neighbor’s property. Troopers returned to the scene and found the animal’s carcass. It had been shot three times.
The suspect admitted shooting and burying the dog and will be charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals. The woman will be charged with criminal trespass for entering the neighbor’s property after having been warned against trespassing. She will also be charged with failing to confine her dog.
Both will be charged before District Judge Bob Bell.
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