Police: Former tenant confessed to South Side arson that destroyed building
May 14—A former tenant of a historic South Side building destroyed by fire in February has been charged with its arson.
Police say that Christian Ross, 25, entered the building under the guise of retrieving the last of his belongings from his old apartment. According to police, Ross drafted a written confession while he was in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting hearings on separate charges.
Ross, whose address is not listed in court records, is charged with three counts of aggravated arson, two counts of arson endangering property and one count of arson endanger persons, causing a catastrophe and criminal mischief. All charges are felonies.
The Feb. 8 fire at 1100 East Carson St. — which housed apartments, a barber shop, and the South Side Chamber of Commerce — destroyed the historic brick building. The fire rose to four alarms. All told, 65 firefighters, 20 police officers and 10 paramedics responded to the blaze.
In the aftermath of the fire, detectives spoke to building manager James Sproat, who told investigators he'd been having issues with Ross, an ex-tenant, according to the criminal complaint. He said Ross had broken into the building several times, including one incident that led to Ross' arrest just days before the fire.
Sproat told investigators Ross had asked to be let into the building one more time Feb. 8 to get the last of his belongings from his former apartment, according to the complaint. Sproat said he and a maintenance man met Ross that afternoon and let him inside. Sproat left, he said, and the maintenance man did not stay in the building while Ross collected his things.
The maintenance man told police he'd waited in his car while Ross was inside, and he saw Ross bring several things out and leave them by the door, according to the complaint. He said he did not see Ross again, and by the time he got out to look for him, a Pittsburgh police officer had just spotted smoke coming from the building.
On Wednesday, fire investigator Michael Burns received a call from a county police sergeant at the Allegheny County Jail who said Ross had indicated he wanted to confess to an arson, according the complaint.
He gave jail staff a written confession that, according to the complaint, said he'd "engaged in the illegal act of arson by purposefully burning down the resident building on the South Side, Pittsburgh (where the chamber of commerce that I resided) Pennsylvania using a handheld torch that I purchased from Home Depot shortly before committing the act."
Investigators said he also wrote that he "was let into my apartment by Jim Sproat the day I decided to burn it down wherein I used my newly purchased torch lighter to ignite flame to apartment unit 3A," according to the complaint.
Burns and a federal agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives interviewed Ross, who said he held the torch to the apartment door and left when he saw the fire had burned through the door, investigators wrote. Ross said he left the torch at the home of a friend.
Indeed, police contacted the friend, who said Ross had asked him if he needed a small butane torch and left it at his house, according to the complaint.
Police wrote that ATF investigators determined Ross had spent an hour moving around the building and he left about 2:27 p.m. Smoke and fire began to show about 2:44 p.m., they said.
Investigators also noted they've not found any accidental explanation for the blaze.
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