A tenant is accused of setting his kitchen table on fire while trying to ignite and smoke batteries inside a 33-unit apartment complex, according to police.
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Domingo Perez-Colon, 53, of Bristol Township, was charged last week with arson and reckless endangerment after the Aug. 22 incident at the Levittown Trace Apartments.
Bristol Township police said officers responded to the complex’s F building after receiving a report of smoke coming from one of its 33 units.
After they pulled up, officers found the building’s hallway filled with heavy smoke.
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While evacuating residents, officers moved to the third floor. They noticed an open apartment door.
Inside, a maintenance employee was attempting to extinguish a fire on top of a kitchen table, police said.
An officer encountered Perez-Colon at the unit and he identified himself as the tenant, police said.
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Officers observed that Perez-Colon had suffered burns, and his wet T-shirt and sweatshirt contained large burn holes, according to police.
When officers asked Perez-Colon how the blaze started, he replied that he smokes. He then told responders that he “smokes batteries” and explained that he lights batteries on fire to smoke them, police said.
A township fire investigator responded to the scene and determined that ash on the kitchen table appeared to stem from a large volume of paper. The investigator located a partially melted vape in the table ash, along with a second partially burned vape in the kitchen sink, police said.
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Officers also discovered several disassembled cell phones throughout the unit and they were all missing their batteries. A partially burned battery was found on the floor near the couch, police said.
Perez-Colon was preliminarily arraigned last week before District Judge Kevin Wagner. He was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of 10 percent of $150,000 bail.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
