RANSOM TWP. — A Clarks Summit man has been charged with arson after a fire at the former Cascades Tissue Plant on April 9 in Ransom Twp.
Dale Bettelli, 24, of 2174 Port Royal Road, faces felony charges of starting a fire that endangered the life of others, starting a fire with the intent of destroying a building and criminal trespass, filed Tuesday by the Taylor Borough Police Department.
It isn’t the first time Bettelli has faced such charges. In February of 2023, he was charged with setting fire to a vacant home on West Mountain. In December of that year, he pleaded guilty to arson. He was sentenced to three months behind bars and 45 months of probation.
Firefighters responded to the former Cascades Tissue facility on Main Street in Ransom Township. just before 4 a.m. Wednesday and found the building in flames. (COURTESY OF NEPA FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY)
Firefighters responded to the former Cascades Tissue facility on Main Street in Ransom Township just before 4 a.m. Wednesday and found the building in flames. (COURTESY OF NEPA FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY)
Firefighters responded to the former Cascades Tissue facility on Main Street in Ransom Township just before 4 a.m. Wednesday and found the building in flames. (COURTESY OF NEPA FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY)
According to the criminal complaint:
Just after 3 a.m. on April 9, firefighters responded to the shuttered business and found the building in flames.
Crews brought the fire under control just before sunrise but remained on scene for hours to ensure the fire had been extinguished, Taylor Fire Chief Jeff LaCoe said.
State police determined the fire started near the roof at the left corner of the structure and spread throughout half the building before being extinguished.
State Police Fire Marshal Jeff Winters ruled the fire arson.
Winters reviewed footage from nearby surveillance cameras, which showed a Volkswagen with a lighter color trunk and after-market tail lamps parked near the building.
Further review of surveillance footage showed the first flames breaking out at 3:14 a.m. from the left roof area of the building, where Winters determined the fire had started.
Taylor Police Chief Brian Holland requested a report from the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center through the state police. The report indicated Bettelli currently owns a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta.
On April 13, Taylor police contacted Scranton police regarding the Volkswagen, providing its registration number.
City police were able to use that information, as well as photos of the vehicle caught on surveillance video, to match Bettelli’s vehicle to the Volkswagen at the scene of the fire.
Sgt. Nicholas Snyder also received an anonymous call providing Bettelli’s name as possibly responsible for the fire. The caller said Bettelli had been in trouble for arson in the past and was from Ransom Twp.
On April 15, Bettelli was called into the probation office to provide a urine sample for a drug screening.
Police there attempted to interview him about the fire, but he refused to answer questions without a lawyer.
They were then informed by his probation officer that his drug screen had been positive for marijuana and he was taken into custody.
Officers then went to Bettelli’s residence, where they found he had spray painted the trunk of his Volkswagen.
While at the residence, a neighbor told officers he had cameras that faced the road and could have caught Bettelli on the night of the fire.
A review of that footage showed Bettelli returning to his residence after the time that the fire broke out.
Officers were also able to track information from Bettelli’s cellphone, which indicated the device was near the former Cascades Tissue Plant from 1:22 to 2:48 on the morning of the fire.
On May 6, Bettelli was arraigned before District Judge Laura Turlip.
He remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Bettelli has a preliminary hearing scheduled on 10:30 a.m. on May 15.