COUDERSPORT — A Rexville, N.Y., man faces a charge of arson after an explosion occurred in a recreational vehicle in which he was allegedly cooking methamphetamine in Potter County.
Aaron David Whitesell, 21, was arraigned Nov. 6 before District Judge Kari McCleaft on charges of arson-intent to destroy an unoccupied building and burglary, both second-degree felonies; disorderly conduct, a third-degree misdemeanor; and criminal trespassing, a summary charge, court records stated.
At 7:30 a.m. Nov. 6, Whitesell entered an RV owned by David Alan Kelly, 44, of Bingham Township.
“While inside (Whitesell) caused a small explosion, which caught the RV on fire,” stated a release from Coudersport-based state police.
According to court records, state police responded to a report that a man was in the road with his face covered in blood; updates indicated the male was looking toward a structure that might have been on fire.
Troopers found the man — Whitesell — walking west on Hickox Ulysses Road, about half a mile from the fire scene, and one trooper recognized Whitesell from a motor vehicle accident investigation two days prior.
Whitesell told police that he tried to set fire that morning to an RV that “was a known place where people cook meth, and that the RV was a ‘junk building’ that needed burned down,” court records read.
The defendant allegedly told police he started a small brush fire inside the RV to burn it down, then went out to Grover Hollow Road to watch it burn, but it kept smoking and would not burn.
He said “he was heading to town to get gas to speed up the fire,” court records stated.
The trooper noticed burn marks on Whitesell’s face, and when he asked Whitesell what happened, Whitesell allegedly said a milk jug blew up when he was burning garbage in a burn barrel with his friend the day before.
Whitesell admitted to police that the RV was not his and he did not have permission to be there, court records indicated.
“It is believed that (Whitesell) was attempting to cook meth,” the criminal complaint stated. “The act caused a small explosion which resulted in the fire, as well as injuries to the defendant.”
Whitesell was committed to Potter County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4.
