A Cambria County man is facing felony charges after lighting a fire in a bedroom after a verbal altercation Thursday, police said.
According to a criminal complaint, police were dispatched to a home on the 100 block of Lakeview Road in Cambria Township after reports of an individual was threatening family members.
Police said they spoke with the family and were informed that Mark Gergely, 47, had went to the residence and was chasing a family member around and making verbal threats.
The criminal complaint states that the family requested that police go to Gergely's home to speak with him about the incident and attempt to calm him down.
According to police, they located Gergely at a family member's home on the 100 block of Virginia Street and found the windows of the residence were broken.
Police said that they made contact with Gergely who, after learning it was police at the residence, ceased verbal contact.
According to the criminal complaint, police spoke with the family about a 302 commitment for Gergely, but that the family again requested police just attempt to speak with him.
Police said a family member let them into the residence where they discovered Gergely in a back bedroom with smoldering cardboard box and bedroom carpeting that had been burned from Gergely lighting it on fire.
The criminal complaint stated that police spoke with Gergely after he was taken into custody who informed them that the incident began earlier in the week when he and a family member got into a physical altercation and that he just wanted to speak to the family member about it.
According to police, Gergely told them that he thought if he lit the box on fire and let it burn enough so that smoke would fill the residence that the family member would come speak with him.
Police also said that, when asked about another burned spot in the living room, Gergely told them he had originally set the box on fire in the living room and then transported it to the bedroom.
Online court dockets show that Gergely is facing one felony charge of arson with danger of death or bodily injury, one felony charge of risking catastrophe and one charge of hazardous disorderly conduct.
Court dockets also show that Gergely is currently being held at the Cambria County Prison and that he has a preliminary hearing scheduled for July 25.
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