Cops: PA Man Doesn't Like Apartment, Sets Fire

A Mechanicsburg man set his apartment on fire this weekend, telling police he didn’t want to live in the building anymore.

39-year-old Lance Jermone Chilcote now has three felony arson charges filed against him, after fire crews were called around 3:30 p.m. Saturday to his building in the first block of West Simpson Street.

An affidavit filed against Chilcote states that officials found two couches stacked on top of each other in his apartment, and they had been set on fire.

The building had other tenants in it and was operated by the Cumberland County Housing Authority, according to the affidavit.

Investigators found Chilcote near the building and he asked to be seen by EMS, according to the affidavit.

In the ambulance, police spoke with Chilcote and he admitted to setting the fire, the affidavit states. He told the police he does not like the building and does not want to live there anymore.

He described stacking the couches and lighting them on fire, before he left the apartment, according to the affidavit. Chilcote said he knocked on his neighbor’s door and warned another tenant that was on a nearby porch.

Police said Chilcote wasn’t specific in his warning, so the fire was not discovered until a few minutes later.

Chilcote was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment, but police say he will be taken to Cumberland County Prison when he is released.

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