CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — A Rimersburg man accused of setting an abandoned building on fire last summer in Porter Township recently waived his preliminary hearing on arson and related charges.
According to court documents, on Wednesday, June 6, in Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey C. Miller’s office the following charges against 57-year-old Nelson Keith Byers were waived for court:
- Arson-Danger Of Death or Bodily Injury, Felony 1
- Arson Endangering Property-Reckless Endangerment of Inhabited Buildings, Felony 2
- Dangerous Burning, Summary
Charges have been transferred to the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.
Byers is free on $35,000.00 unsecured bail.
A criminal conference is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on August 15 in the Clarion County District Attorney’s Office.
Details of the case:
The charges stem from a structure fire on September 5, 2017, at the former Porter Township Elementary School in the area of 1200 Rockville Road just off Curllsville Road.
The building, which is owned by Byers, has been abandoned for several years.
During a September 7 interview at the Clarion-based State Police barracks with Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Russell D. Stewart, Byers allegedly admitted that he started a fire in the building “just to burn a few items.”
“I burn materials there all the time, but I don’t burn materials to burn the building down,” Byers told Stewart during the interview.
Court documents detailing the charges against Byers indicate that he put firefighters and neighbors in danger by setting the fire.
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