No Contest Plea For Woman Accused Of Arson

A woman accused of setting back-to-back fires at her home last summer has been paroled and ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

Catherine Mary Gerretz, 60, of Bristol Township’s Levittown section, entered a no contest plea earlier this month before Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Wallace Bateman to several counts of arson, reckless endangerment, and related offenses.

Bateman sentenced Gerretz to a maximum of 23 months in custody but paroled her from the county correctional facility, noting she had been jailed since September. As part of her parole, Gerretz must undergo mental health treatment and is barred from contacting others involved in the case.

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office withdrew several other charges, including dangerous burning and disorderly conduct.

Bucks County Chief Deputy Public Defender Lisa Williams asserted at a preliminary hearing last year that Gerretz was not guilty.

Charges were filed after consecutive fires last June at Gerretz’s residence in the 20 block of Yellowood Drive in the Levittown section of Bristol Township.

During testimony at the preliminary hearing, Bristol Township Fire Marshal Kevin Dippolito said he responded to a fire at the home on June 10, 2025, after police were dispatched to the address at 3:07 a.m.

Dippolito determined that the fire was started using a gasoline-based accelerant. He testified that his investigation also uncovered a second, smaller incendiary fire at the property.

The next morning, June 11, 2025, emergency crews were called back to the same address at 1:29 a.m. to find the house engulfed in flames.

The second fire destroyed Gerretz’s home and damaged a neighboring, occupied house, according to police.

Gerretz gave inconsistent statements to investigators regarding her whereabouts during both incidents, Detective Emilyann Maialetti testified.

A criminal complaint stated that Gerretz had missed mortgage payments since June 2023, and her home was facing a pending sheriff’s sale.

As of Dec. 17, 2024, the total amount due on the property was approximately $103,057.72, police said.

State Farm estimated the cost to repair or replace the damaged home at approximately $242,905.13.

In July 2025, Bristol Township police also investigated handwritten notes left for neighbors. One note, left on July 19, warned a neighbor who had reported and helped extinguish one of the fires to “keep talkin’ sh*t.”

Gerretz faces a separate Bristol Township case of theft and receiving stolen property stemming from an incident just days before the fires. She is scheduled to appear in court next month for that case.