INDIANA CO., Pa. (EYT) – Two volunteer firefighters from Indiana County are facing additional charges following investigations into several suspicious fires.
According to TribLive, 22-year-old Nicholas Leone, of Creekside, and 19-year-old Dylan Dalessio, of Plumville, who were both members of the Plumville Volunteer Fire Company, are accused of arson in three fires that occurred in Indiana County.
Leone and Dalessio were jailed for a fire set at an Amish furniture store in West Mahoning Township on January 25, 2019, and are now facing additional charges in relation to fires that occurred in December 2018 in Washington Township, Indiana County.
The pair were initially charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit arson with danger of death or bodily injury, recklessly burning an unoccupied structure and recklessly burning property worth more than $5,000 after they allegedly used a “Molotov cocktail” to start the January 25 fire at the furniture store located on Stephenson Road in West. Mahoning Township, Indiana County.
However, following their arrest, Leone allegedly confessed to setting two additional fires – one fire at an abandoned garage and carport on Bailey road in Washington Township, Indiana County, and another at a barn on State Route 954 North, also in Washington Township.
According to police, Leone responded with the Plumville Volunteer Fire Company to both of the fires, though he later quit the department and applied to the Creekside Volunteer Fire Company.
The three fires Leone and Dalessio are accused of starting are part of a string of eleven suspicious fires that have occurred in the area since August of 2018 that have been under investigation.
Their arrests were a result of an investigation by State Police Fire Marshals in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Indiana County District Attorney’s Office, and state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Both men face multiple counts of conspiracy to commit arson with danger of death or bodily injury, recklessly burning an unoccupied structure, and recklessly burning property worth more than $5,000.
They are being held in the Indiana County Jail in lieu on $250,000.00 cash bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 15.
The investigation into the remaining eight fires, the most recent of which occurred at a barn in White Township on September 15, is ongoing.
The ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) is offering reward of $8,000.00 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the individuals responsible. Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers is offering an additional $2,000.00 reward.
Anyone with information about the fires or individuals involved is asked to contact the ATF hotline at 1-888-ATF-TIPS (1-888-283-8477), the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-4-PA-TIPS, or email ATFTips@atf.gov or via online www.pacrimestoppers.org.
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