POTTSVILLE, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A man is facing multiple charges after police say he destroyed two homes with the use of Molotov cocktails.
According to the Pottsville Bureau of Police, 36-year-old Tyrie Dunn has been charged for his role in starting a fire that destroyed a duplex, of which one unit was vacant and the other where his son lived.
On January 17, crews were called to the 600 block of North 2nd Street for a reported house fire just after 6:00 a.m. On scene, officials said the fire started at one home and later spread to another residence on the block.
Authorities stated multiple people were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation, and four people were displaced.
An investigation into the fire was conducted and police said they learned through camera footage that a man, later identified as Dunn, threw two Molotov cocktails, one of which landed near the front door of one unit while the second hit a utility wire and landed in the street.
House fire battle in freezing temperatures
Dunn's son was inside the building at the time and suffered broken bones and minor burns after jumping from a second-story window to escape the house, as stated in the affidavit.
Detectives say they were able to identify Dunn as a suspect after they discovered a pair of Starbucks Frappuccino bottles at the scene leading to a review of surveillance footage from Sheetz that showed Dunn walking out of the store with two Starbucks Frappuccinos.
Police say they were able to review text messages sent by Dunn that indicated he believed his son and another person, who was also injured in the fire, had stolen money from him.
Dunn is charged with aggravated arson, arson, causing a catastrophe, and aggravated assault.
Dunn was recently charged in the investigation of a shooting incident at a Walmart in Saint Clair last year. Those charges alleged that Dunn jumped another man in an aisle of the store before that man fired a gunshot.
