A resident at a Unity home for troubled juveniles is charged by state police with arson after allegedly starting an electrical fire in a bathroom of a residential facility Oct. 5.
Davon Mali Moats, 18, a resident at Adelphoi Village’s Loyalhanna House on its main campus, is charged with two counts of arson and single counts of criminal mischief, institutional vandalism, reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe following an investigation by state police Fire Marshal Trooper Keith Sobecki.
According to court documents filed by Sobecki, 12 other residents and supervisors were in the group home at the time of the fire and had to be evacuated. No injuries were reported.
Sobecki said in court documents that Lloydsville firefighters were called to extinguish the fire that was contained to an electrical outlet in a wall in a second-floor bathroom.
Just prior to the fire, Sobecki said Adelphoi staff reported seeing Moats enter the bathroom with a cup of water.
“(Staff reported) hearing Moats laughing hysterically while locked in the bathroom. Supervisors then reported seeing Moats exiting and then hearing hissing and crackling coming from inside the bathroom,” Sobecki wrote.
Supervisors told Sobecki they looked in and saw sparks and flames coming out of a wall outlet with water spilled around the outlet and floor.
Prior to the fire, the supervisors said Moats was angry after being disciplined for damaging telephones and furniture in the home earlier.
“During his rage, Moats was heard saying, ‘I want to burn this place down’,” Sobecki said.
Youth are placed in the nonprofit’s residential program, including Loyalhanna House, through juvenile probation and child welfare referrals.
Moats, who remains in the Adelphoi program according to documents filed in the case, has not yet been arraigned.
Adelphoi director of marketing Karyn Pratt said employees have cooperated in the state police investigation.
“Adelphoi is working with the state police to complete an investigation and fully supports the charges that have been filed. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident,” Pratt said.
Sobecki said Moats admitted in an interview to setting the fire that caused approximately $200 damage to the wall and outlet.
“He admitted pouring water into the outlet intending to start the fire,” Sobecki wrote.
