A 22-year-old Morgantown man was charged with third-degree arson and destruction of property for a May 25 dumpster fire near 400 Beverly Ave., in Sunnyside.
Following an investigation by Morgantown Fire Marshal Ken Tennant, Brenden-Tyler Griffith Soloman admitted to setting the fire, which resulted in $9,479 in damages, largely to overhead Comcast distribution lines.
According to the criminal complaint, Tennant was called to the scene at about 12:45 a.m. and was provided a description of a vehicle seen leaving the area.
An officer with the Morgantown Police Department located the vehicle a short time later and spoke with Soloman, who was ultimately read his Miranda rights before admitting to setting the blaze with a lighter and a piece of paper.
Soloman led officers to the address of the two other males who were in the vehicle. One said he was too intoxicated to recall what happened. The other corroborated Soloman’s description of events.
The blaze consumed the contents of two overflowing commercial dumpsters containing three couches, three mattresses and construction debris.
The size of the fire resulted in two nearby buildings being evacuated.
The Morgantown Fire Department had the blaze under control in about 10 minutes.
Soloman was arraigned by Magistrate Tim Pocius and released on a $15,000 personal recognizance bond.
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