Police say the man lit fires in his Pocono Pines townhome to “kill spiders,” including placing a love seat over a smoldering blaze, and the fire spread to three adjoining units

By Christopher Dornblaser
The Morning Call

MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — A Monroe County man wanted for setting fires in a home in an apparent attempt to “kill the spiders within the residence” was arrested Wednesday in an incident that prompted a bomb squad response in New York City , according to authorities.

Sean McDermott, 36, of Pocono Pines, was arrested late Wednesday after investigators found a suspicious U-Haul truck at a city intersection, a NYPD spokesperson said Friday. He was arrested a few hours later.

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Pocono Mountain Regional Police said McDermott set his townhome at 616 Uncus Lane ablaze Monday, while setting small fires in an attempt to kill the spiders there. A witness in the home said he kept putting the fires out, and McDermott kept lighting them, according to a department news release.

McDermott put a love seat on top of one of the fires, and the two of them then left the home, police said. When they returned, they found the home “engulfed in flames,” the department said. McDermott then fled the scene in a U-Haul , authorities said.

The fire spread to three neighboring homes.

The U-Haul was found about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of East 23rd Street and Madison Avenue , according to the NYPD . The bomb squad was requested and the vehicle was deemed non-hazardous.

McDermott faces charges of arson, aggravated arson, reckless burning and causing a catastrophe, as well as misdemeanor offenses of possessing an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person and criminal mischief. He has not been arraigned on his charges as of Friday.

He also faces charges of resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, unauthorized use of a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully possessing noxious materials.

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