Shenandoah man waives arson charges to county court
May 7—SHENANDOAH — A borough man charged with setting the house he lived in on fire in January weeks after obtaining an insurance policy for the contents waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday.
Felix Bermejo, 28, who lived at 322 W. Penn St., was scheduled to appear Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker on charges of two felony counts of arson and related offenses, one felony count each of causing or risking a catastrophe and insurance fraud and a misdemeanor offense of recklessly endangering another person.
After conferring with his attorney, Jeffrey Markosky of Mahanoy City, Bermejo decided to forego the hearing and have the charges against him in heard in Schuylkill County Court, where he can enter a guilty plea or plead not guilty and request a trial.
Bermejo remains free on bail after posting $50,000 straight cash bail set by Kilker at the time of his arraignment in February.
Shenandoah police Patrolman William Moyer charged Bermejo with setting a fire at the home of his grandparents where he was living around 8:30 p.m. Jan. 18.
Bermejo was arraigned via video conference by Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $50,000 straight cash bail.
Moyer said the charges are the result of a fire around 8:40 p.m. Jan. 18 at the 322 W. Penn St. home where Bermejo was living and found flames in the basement and smoke coming from other areas of the building.
The fire was quickly extinguished with damage contained to one building, the officer said.
The day after the fire, Moyer said that he and state police fire marshals Troopers John Burns and Joseph Hall as well as Shenandoah Fire Marshal Rick Examitas investigated the fire and determined the fire was intentionally set on a sofa located to the back of the basement.
Moyer said he and Examitas met with Bermejo, who explained that he just obtained a $50,000 insurance policy on the home and that he was not home when the fire started.
Bermejo said he only found out about the fire when he received a telephone call from the uncle of his fiancé, Moyer said.
He said Bermejo had security cameras inside his home that were sent to the FBI for analysis and showed the man inside the basement of the home just after 8:30 p.m.
The cameras also showed Bermejo opening the back basement door and fire in the back round, Moyer said adding that the man can also be seen adding something to the fire and exiting through the back door shutting the door behind him.
Bermejo was subsequently interviewed at the state police station in Frackville and when asked what he thought caused the fire answered by saying the insurance investigator thought it was caused by a problem with a wire to the back baseboard heater, Moyer said.
When confronted with the video, Moyer said Bermejo said he could have exited the home through the back door but did not see any fire or smoke as he left.
