BELLE VERNON, Pa. (AP) — In a story Oct. 29 about a suspected arson fire in a Pennsylvania strip mall, The Associated Press reported erroneously the relationship of the suspect to the store where the fire took place. Police say suspect Johnathan Szabo was a customer of the Dollar General store, not an employee.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Cops: Customer torched store in $2M blaze
Police: Man set fire to discount store where he shopped, causing $2M in damage to strip mall
BELLE VERNON, Pa. (AP) — A man has been jailed on charges he set fire to the Pennsylvania discount store where he shopped, starting a blaze that did $2 million in damage to a strip mall.
When asked to comment after his arraignment Monday, Johnathan Szabo, of Charleroi, said simply, “Sorry.”
Rostraver Township police say Szabo was at the Dollar General store in the Tri-County Plaza when he picked up a cigarette lighter from a shelf and began setting fire to paper products about 6:45 p.m. Friday. There were several customers and employees who all got out safely.
Police say Szabo confessed and even gave a reason for setting the fire, but they declined to disclose it until Szabo’s preliminary hearing Nov. 7.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for the 24-year-old.
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