Jeannette police Tuesday arrested a city man they charged last month with arson and related counts in connection with an April 2 fire.
Jason Anthony John, 40, was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $250,000 bail.
Authorities accuse John of setting an abandoned North Third Street home on fire. Witnesses reported seeing a white man, later identified as John, walking near the home just before the blaze, according to court papers.
During a police interview the following day, John told investigators he saw a cat run into the home and followed it, according to court papers. John told police he walked around the building looking for the feline and, while he was on the second floor, he threw a cigarette onto a mattress and left.
The home — which had been the scene of two fires during the last six years or so — has since been demolished.
John didn’t have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for July 11.
