Pocono News Section

Lackawanna County Arson Arrests

Lackawanna County Arson Arrests - Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 5:09PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2008 @ 05:09pm EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Two people turn themselves in for a Lackawanna County arson.

27-year-old Robert White of Nicholson and 18-year-old Jacquelyn Urda are in jail. Police say they started a blaze in Fleetville, Benton Township, near the intersection of Route 407 and Clarkson Road.

Police say White set the fire back in June in Benton Township. Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Korey Kolcharno says, "Right now the motivation is still unclear however we are still actively investigating it up to this point."

White apparently had some help. 18-year-old Jacquelyn Urda also turned herself in to police Tuesday. She and White Jr. allegedly set the fire, and then watched it burn from a neighboring roof. "There's nothing more atrocious than to set a fire and go there and know that someone is putting their lives in peril for someone else," says Kolcharno.

White Jr.'s father owned this building. Police reports say White Jr. admitted his mother told him it would be "better off burned." The district attorney's office wouldn't talk about those claims. They will all likely come out in court.

For now, White Jr. is in jail on $125,000 bail. Urda is locked up on $100,000 bail.