Background: Neil Yetsko’s home in Plum, Pa. (WPXI). Inset: Neil Yetsko (Allegheny County Jail).
A Pennsylvania man was arrested and held without bail after he allegedly attempted to blow up his own home by leaving lit candles inside after causing a gas leak.
Neil Yetsko, 39, reported a gas leak in his Plum, Pennsylvania, home on Nov. 16, a day after he left town. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Plum Advance Leader, he also left two candles lit inside. Workers from a local gas company, Peoples Gas, responded to the scene and made their way inside. They smelled the gas and proceeded to shut off the home’s gas and electric before calling firefighters to the scene.
Yetsko reportedly showed up at the scene later that day. But his story about the gas leak reportedly kept changing — and the fire marshal was compelled to call police after witnessing Yetsko’s allegedly strange behavior.
After Allegheny County Fire Marshal Don Brucker alerted police to Yetsko, detectives started questioning him. In their first interview with Yetsko on Nov. 18, he reportedly claimed that he may have accidentally caused the gas leak when he moved the stove in order to clean it after spilling food on it. He also allegedly said that he found out about the gas leak through a friend who had stopped by his house while he was out of town on Nov. 16, the day he reported the leak.
Peoples Gas data showed that there was no increase in gas output on the day Yetsko claimed to move his stove. The increase did not occur until Nov. 15, the day before Yetsko left town. A search warrant that included Yetsko’s phone did not indicate that a call was made, and Yetsko apparently refused to provide information about the friend he said he called.
According to WPXI, a local NBC affiliate, his next-door neighbor, Alivia Cooper, said that Yetsko had called her father the morning that the gas leak was reported, but he was at work and unable to check. WPXI reported that the whole neighborhood noticed the smell of gas. They all blamed Peoples Gas for the leak, not knowing what detectives were slowly finding out.
On Dec. 4, Yetsko was interviewed by police again, and this time he is said to have made a startling admission. According to the criminal complaint, Yetsko said that he hit his hand on the stove and out of anger, he struck the stove and yanked at the lines, causing the leak. He told police that he “literally heard the gas leaking, then I sat down on the floor for about an hour hoping that house would explode with me in it.”
He claimed that the candles were left burning accidentally.
Cooper told WPXI, “He was a friend of ours, we had him over for parties and holidays and he could have killed us all.” She added, “I think it was his way out, and as horrible as it is, you almost feel bad for him even more.”
According to court documents, Yetsko was arrested on Dec. 27 and charged with three felony counts of attempted arson — one with the intent to blow up an unoccupied building, one with reckless endangerment of occupied buildings, and one with the intent to collect insurance. He was also charged with causing or risking catastrophe.
He is being held at the Allegheny County Jail without bail after being deemed to be a danger to himself and the public. His next court date is Jan. 8.
