Michigan man accused of setting Pennsylvania man's house on fire for talking to his ex-girlfriend

BENSALEM, Pa. (FOX 2) - A Michigan man allegedly drove more than 700 miles to Pennsylvania and set a home on fire because one of the residents was talking to his ex-girlfriend.

Harrison Jones, of Rockford, is now facing six counts of attempted homicide, arson, and risking catastrophe, among other charges.

The backstory:

According to Bensalem Township police, first responders were called to a home in the 5200 block of Merganser Way just after 5:20 a.m. Feb. 10 on reports that a house was engulfed in flames. William McVey, the director of Bensalem Township Public Safety, said someone was awake inside the home and heard noise before the fire.

"We've also learned that the mother of the house had heard noises coming from downstairs. She got out to check her residence and sees a male subject walking down the steps. She believed that that was her son at the time, which we determined later it was not," he said. "So, she went back to the bedroom, continued to hear those noises, and went downstairs."

That's when she saw flames and was able to help get five other people who were in the house out. They all suffered smoke inhalation, but are expected to be OK, while two dogs were killed.

"We're very thankful for that mother for having the intuition to go downstairs and investigate it, because if she didn't wake people and evacuate them, this would have been a very different outcome," McVey said.

Detectives determined that the fire may have been arson. A neighbor's security camera captured a black sedan passing the home before a person got out of the vehicle and walked toward the home while holding an object just after 5 a.m. He ran back to his vehicle shortly after and left as the house exploded.

(Photo: Bensalem Township Police)

By using intersection cameras, detectives identified the vehicle and tracked it. At one point, the Volkswagen Passat drove through an intersection with a license plate reader, and police were able to see that it was registered to a man in Michigan.

Detectives then interviewed the people who live in the home that had burned and discovered that one of the residents, a 21-year-old man, had been talking to a woman from Michigan, and she had plans to travel to Pennsylvania to meet him soon. Through their investigation, detectives learned that the woman's ex-boyfriend, Harrison Jones, lives at the same Michigan home as the Passat's registered owner.

This led to Bensalem police contacting the Kent County Sheriff's Office in Michigan for assistance with the investigation. Deputies in Michigan searched Jones' Rockford home and seized the Passat, lock-picking devices, a computer, and a phone, police said. When deputies talked to Jones, they noticed he had suspected burns on his arms.

"They were able to seize the car, recover lidocaine, cream for burns, gauze wrappings and a lock-pick that I'm sure he used that night to break into the house," McVey said.

Harrison Jones (Photo: Bensalem Township Police)

After receiving this evidence, an arrest warrant was issued, and Jones was taken into custody.

McVey said Jones drove to Bensalem with the sole intention of setting the home on fire.

"Our investigations revealed that he drove approximately 11 hours, about 730 miles to get to that residence. He sat in a neighborhood for roughly two hours prior to setting the fire and then traveled directly back," he said. "His motive was, in fact, to burn the house and then travel home."

What's next:

Jones is awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.

McVey praised both his department and Kent County deputies for getting the suspect in custody quickly despite him fleeing back to Michigan.

"I would like to thank the Kent County Sheriff's Office for the work they've done. They treated it like it was their own case. We can't thank them enough," he said. "And I would like to commend our staff here in Bensalem. To have this guy identified and locked up within two days of committing a crime like this is spectacular work."

Watch FOX 2 News Live