'Bored' volunteer firefighter pleads guilty to 2 Munhall arsons
A volunteer firefighter who told police he set two porches on fire in December 2018 in Munhall because he was bored pleaded guilty Monday in Allegheny County Court to arson charges.
Judge Randal Todd is scheduled to sentence Ryan Laubham, 19, of Munhall, on Nov. 14.
Laubham’s attorney, Casey White, declined comment until after sentencing.
Laubham was accused of setting the fire on a front porch on Crawford Avenue on Dec. 10, 2018.
As authorities were responding to that fire, they were told about a similar fire that was set nearby on Crawford Avenue on Dec. 3. Fire officials ruled both fires to be arson after reviewing surveillance camera footage in the area.
After police identified Laubham as a suspect, he initially told investigators that he was playing video games when the fires were set. Police said when they told him about the video evidence, he admitted to setting the fires because he was bored.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated arson, two counts of arson endangering people and one county of arson endangering first responders, according to the DA’s office.
Laubham was a volunteer with Munhall’s No. 4 volunteer fire company.
Tom Davidson is a TribLive news editor. He has been a journalist in Western Pennsylvania for more than 25 years. He can be reached at tdavidson@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.