Inset: Robert Zimmerman (Lewistown Police Department). Background: The residence Zimmerman allegedly set on fire in Lewistown Borough, Pa. (Google Maps).
A Pennsylvania man is behind bars after starting a fatal house fire because a woman rejected his romantic advances, according to law enforcement in the Keystone State.
Robert Zimmerman, 40, is awaiting criminal charges after being arrested earlier this week on an outstanding warrant over a fatal arson, the Lewistown Police Department said.
The underlying incident occurred late Wednesday night at a residence on Bratton Avenue in Lewistown Borough – a small town located roughly equidistant between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Firefighters were called to control the blaze at around 11:55 p.m., police said. The property owner had been subletting the house to several different people, including 44-year-old Brandy Phillippe.
The woman did not survive the fire, according to a report by Lancaster NBC affiliate WGAL.
“Preliminary investigation has determined Ms. Phillippe attempted to flee the residence during the fire but was unable to escape,” the Mifflin County Coroner”s Office said in a statement released Friday. “She was pronounced dead at the scene.”
As officers arrived at the scene of the crime, several witnesses said the fire was intentional and warned of people still trapped inside.
In the end, two other residents were harmed as a result of the inferno, according to law enforcement.
One man suffered significant injuries to his face after jumping from a second-floor window; he also suffered internal burns to his throat. A woman fell onto the sidewalk after falling from a second-floor window from which she was previously seen hanging, police said.
“I could see orange flames coming out the kitchen window. And they were really high,” a neighbor told WGAL. “I saw, people standing outside the, the door there. And then a few minutes later I heard, someone yell, ‘Jump! Jump!’ The, I guess men were saying for someone to jump there.”
The neighbor also expressed grief for a small community of cats that lived near the house and were killed during the fire.
Witnesses would later tell police they saw Zimmerman at the residence in the moments before the flames broke out. The defendant allegedly had professed his love for a woman who lived in the building, according to Harrisburg-based CBS affiliate WHP.
Investigators believe the defendant grew despondent after being rejected by the woman and began setting fire to several items on the first floor of the residence. Witnesses told police that Zimmerman admitted to starting the inferno – and said that he watched the house burn from a nearby alleyway. Witness statements were corroborated using surveillance footage, according to law enforcement.
The defendant was eventually arrested at a boarding house on East Third Street. Arresting officers said he smelled of ash and smoke. He also showed signs of an overdose and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was cleared hours later, then taken to the police station for questioning.
“Zimmerman claimed that he could not recall any details at the exact time the fire started but was able to make several statements about events immediately before and after the fire started,” the police department said. “Zimmerman was informed that an occupant of the residence died as a result of the fire and he had a strong emotional response to this.”
Police anticipate formal charges will be filed in the case against the defendant soon, according to a press release.
