Man Charged In Connection With Newtown Fire Waives Hearing

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, Pa. — A Newtown Borough man charged in connection with a fire at his South State Street apartment waived his rights on Monday to a preliminary hearing in district court.

Scott R. Krukowski, 35, appeared before Judge Michael Petrucci on Monday at District Court in Newtown for his preliminary hearing.

Petrucci announced that the case would be bound over to the Court of Common Pleas in Doylestown for a formal arraignment on Friday, August 26, beginning at noon.

Krukowski is charged with risking a catastrophe, a first-degree felony; criminal mischief; and recklessly endangering another person, in connection with a fire at 26.5 South State Street that heavily damaged his third-floor apartment and caused extensive smoke and water damage to a second floor apartment and to the Pro Shop, a retail business located on the first floor of the building.

According to the criminal complaint, just before 1 a.m. on March 24, Newtown Borough Police Officer George Rusinko was on patrol when he noticed smoke in the area of 26 South Main and began to investigate. He drove to the rear of the building where he observed heavy smoke and flames coming from the third-floor windows. He summoned firefighters to the scene and assisted with the evacuation of residents from the building and from neighboring buildings.

Firefighters from seven companies battled the fire for nearly an hour, placing it under control at 1:49 a.m. and preventing it from spreading to adjacent structures in the town’s historic business district. Crews remained on the scene for several hours, hitting hot spots and conducting mop-up operations.

The third-floor apartment sustained the brunt of the fire with fire, smoke and water damage while the second-floor apartment and first-floor retail space sustained smoke and water damage.

Krukowski was arraigned in June and remanded to Bucks County Prison while awaiting his formal arraignment.