CLEARFIELD – A Bellefonte man has been charged for causing an explosion and fire in Beccaria Township.
Scotty Lee Lucas, 50, was charged by state police with felony risking a catastrophe and causing a catastrophe, as well as misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Aug. 28 a fire marshal was called to the site of a fire which had destroyed a car, garage and a home. It was determined that the fire began in the garage where a car had a hole near the gas tank. Near it was a burnt drill bit which was the same size as the hole in the car.
A witness related that he had seen Lucas inside the garage, drilling a hole in the gas tank which caused an explosion and fire.
In an interview with authorities, Lucas who at first claimed he was in the garage working on the lawn mower when he saw a flash but didn’t know how the fire started. When asked to provide a written statement, he wrote “I drilled a hole in the gas tank it accidentally caught fire,” police said.
“This fire was caused from a reckless and negligent act that showed a conscious disregard for safety,” the trooper wrote in the criminal complaint.
He goes on to state that Lucas acted recklessly by using the drill on the car near the gas tank in an attempt to steal gasoline from the vehicle.
“This reckless and negligent act caused the gasoline vapors to ignite from a spark within the drill brushes, which resulted in an explosion.”
This explosion caused the garage to ignite and it spread to the residence where a woman was sleeping.
Lucas waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court, sending the case on to the court of common pleas. He is incarcerated in the county jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
