Police: Pittsburgh man set fire to woman's home after she left to get PFA

Authorities filed charges against a Pittsburgh man who they said set fire to a woman’s home last week, killing two cats, when she left with a friend to get a protection from abuse order against him.

A woman called police to her Moore Street home in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood shortly after 1:10 p.m. Saturday, reporting a domestic incident with Matthew Trapuzzano, according to court paperwork.

A criminal complaint filed in the case said responding officers determined the incident was not one a violent one and told her she would have to obtain a PFA with an eviction order to get Trapuzzano out of the house.

Witnesses told investigators that as the woman left her home with a friend to go to municipal court to seek a PFA, Matthew Trapuzzano told her that she wouldn’t have a house when she got back.

Several witnesses reported seeing Trapuzzano outside the woman’s home with a canister of Lysol and a lighter, according to the complaint. One witness told police she saw Trapuzzano trying to set fire to a rolled up carpet, while another saw him standing at the front door as black smoke poured from the front door, the complaint said.

Investigators with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire determined the fire was intentionally set, likely originating on two separate couches on the first floor of the home, according to the complaint.

Two cats were found dead in the home, police said.

Trapuzzano is charged with five counts of arson, three counts of criminal mischief, two counts of cruelty to animals and risking a catastrophe – all felonies. Court records showed he was not in custody as of Monday afternoon.