Alleged arsonist, subject of hours-long standoff, found hiding under Memorial Ave. bridge
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After allegedly causing a fire inside an occupied Montoursville house on Spruce Street early Thursday morning, Alisha Marie Hart fled to her home in the city's Newberry neighborhood at 1305 Dewey St., where she remained for several hours, refusing orders from law enforcement to surrender. Streets surrounding the home were closed as members of the state police Special Emergency Response Team tried unsuccessfully to communicate with her.
Shortly before 2 p.m., troopers entered the residence only to learn that she was nowhere to be found. During the standoff, which began about 5 a.m., troopers saw "Hart exit the house and flee on foot a short distance away before" re-entering the home, it was stated in an affidavit prepared by Cpl. Nathan Birth, a state police fire marshal.
Hart, 37, managed to slip out of the house unnoticed and remained at large until about 6 p.m. when she was taken into custody by city police who found her hiding under the Memorial Avenue bridge, not far from her home. She has been charged with felony arson and reckless burning for allegedly causing a fire at 1019 Spruce St. in the borough about 12:40 a.m.
While the homeowner, Eric McQuillen, was not there at the time of the fire, another man who rents a bedroom in the house was asleep inside, according to investigators. In the court document, Birth stated that McQuillen and Hart, a female acquaintance, "got into an argument earlier in the evening. The situation at the involved residence continued to get worse so McQuillen and a friend (who was with him) left the residence."
While he was away from the house, McQuillen and Hart continued to argue with one another through text messages, Birth said. "At one point, Hart sent a text message telling McQuillen that she was going to burn the house down. McQuillen did not believe her. However, within minutes of receiving Hart's text, McQuillen received a phone call from his tenant, telling him the house was one fire," the affidavit stated.
The tenant told McQuillen that Hart was in the house and that he had been awakened by her yelling "Go," the court document stated. The tenant said when he exited the bedroom, the living room area near the woodstove and a couch were on fire, Birth said investigators were told.
McQuillen reportedly responded back to his house and while there "received numerous calls from Hart to which she never denied his allegations over the phone that she set the fire," the affidavit stated. While at the fire scene, Birth spoke on the phone with a relative of Hart's who told him that he had picked up Hart just outside the borough and dropped her off in the area of Cemetery Street in the city.
During the ride, the relative told Birth, Hart "admitted to starting the fire at McQuillen's home," the court document stated. McQuillen also informed Birth of Hart's address. He soon told Birth that he was receiving text messages from Hart, one of them stating that Hart was in her house and that "multiple police units were outside." Hart told McQuillen that she would not be "coming out" and indicated "she would inflict fatal self harm before exiting the house voluntarily," the affidavit stated.
It was believed that she was awaiting to be arraigned at press time.
"Hart intentionally manipulated McQuillen's woodstove to cause a fire with another occupant" in the house, Birth alleged. He determined the fire was intentionally set and stated in the floor area directly in front of an installed woodstove. "The woodstove was open, allowing radiant heat to ignite nearby combustibles. It was probable that contents in the woodstove, which were already ignited, were likely pulled out and left burning on the floor," Birth said in the affidavit.
This was the second time in less than two weeks that a person had barricaded themselves in a home in the Newberry section of Williamsport. It was just 10-days ago, Oct. 12, troopers with the emergency response team used non-lethal means to force 28-year-old Dominic Reynolds from his home at 2226 Newberry St., ending a 12-hour standoff about 12:30 p.m. No shots were ever fired. Reynolds remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison on no bail on state police charges of terroristic threats and related offenses. He was held for court on those charges following a preliminary hearing Monday.
Thursday's standoff was just a few blocks north of the earlier one.