Pocono News Section

Arson Suspect Snaps During Court Hearing

Arson Suspect Snaps During Court Hearing - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 6:28PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 @ 06:28pm EDT
JERMYN, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Instead of being in prison, an arson suspect in Lackawanna County was taken to the hospital late Wednesday afternoon.

Timothy Ferguson was arraigned on arson charges in front of a judge in Archbald.

Police say he set his own apartment building on fire late Tuesday night.

Investigators say Ferguson threw lit matches around his second floor apartment on Henry Drive in Jermyn.

Several people had to be rescued. Some of those people, as well as several firefighters, were hurt. Neighbors couldn't believe what happened.

"Things like this don't usually happen around here. It's usually a nice neighborhood and a nice place," Laura Steindel said.

Right after his arrest, Ferguson's court hearing was anything but normal.

He snapped when the judge set his bail at $100,000. He was crying as he said "Your honor, I was defending myself, I can't go to jail, don't do this, someone was robbing me, I'm not going to jail."

After that phrase, Ferguson ripped out his breathing tube and threw it on the floor.

He continued to threaten to harm himself. He was taken away in an ambulance. He was taken to Scranton CMC for a mental health evaluation.

Back at the fire scene, Ferguson already had a reputation.

"I'm very disappointed. If somebody wants to take their own life, thats fine, but don't destroy other people's lives. I mean seven other people got effected by this and that's not fair," neighbor Darlene Fetcho said.

"He was always a weird guy. He walked around kinda funny. We were worried about him because we have kids up here and stuff," neighbor Nicole Weldon said.

Ferguson is expected to be back in court later this month.