Man sentenced for burning Pa. home of man who communicated with ex-girlfriend

A Michigan man pleaded guilty to driving over 730 miles and setting fire to the Pennsylvania home of a man that his ex-girlfriend had communicated with online, leaving six people inside the house hospitalized and two dogs dead.

On Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, Harrison Jones, 22, of Rockford, Michigan, was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison on a plea deal.

The arson fire

On Feb. 10, 2025, at 5:22 a.m., police and volunteer firefighters responded to the 5200 block of Merganser Way in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, for a reported house fire. When they arrived, they found six people outside the house.

The homeowner told NBC10 she was sleeping earlier that morning when she heard strange noises. The woman went to investigate and saw a man who she believed was her son inside the home. She then went back to her room but the strange noises continued.

At 5:17 a.m., the woman walked downstairs and found her kitchen and living room on fire. She then alerted the five other residents inside the home and they all evacuated. One of the residents jumped from the second-floor window of the house to escape.

The family members were later hospitalized and treated for smoke inhalation.

“It’s a miracle they all survived,” Bensalem Public Safety Director William McVey said. “And we credit the mother of that house for taking the actions she did to protect her family and ensure that they all lived.”

During Thursday’s sentencing, Stacy Zalenski, one of the family members, also said their two dogs, Trey and Jett, woke them up by barking. The two dogs were killed in the fire.

“Without them we wouldn’t be here,” she said.

A GoFundMe was created in support of the family. The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society also created a fundraiser in honor of Trey and Jett.

The investigation

Investigators determined the cause of the fire was arson. They obtained surveillance video showing a Volkswagen Passat pulling up to the home around 5 a.m. that morning. A man then exits the vehicle and goes to the back of the home, staying in the area for about four minutes before returning to the car. The man then grabs something from the car and goes back to the rear of the house where he stays for about 12 minutes.

Then, at 5:18 a.m., the man is seen running from the back of the home and fleeing in the Volkswagen. About 30 seconds later, smoke and an explosion are seen from the home.

Investigators determined the Volkswagen exited I-95 at Street Road around 1:24 a.m. that morning and drove directly to the home on Merganser Way. The vehicle then remained there for a few hours before the home was set on fire. Investigators said the Volkswagen then got back on I-95 South at 5:24 a.m. that morning.

Investigators traced the license plate of the Volkswagen to a home in Kent County, Michigan. Bensalem Police and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department later identified the driver as Harrison Jones, the son of the vehicle’s owner and a resident of Rockford, Michigan. Jones was the ex-boyfriend of a Michigan woman who had been communicating online with Stacy Zalenski 22-year-old son who lived at the Merganser Way home that had been set on fire.

Investigators said Jones’ ex-girlfriend had never met Zalenski’s son in person but was planning on meeting him in Pennsylvania.

On Feb. 12, 2025, members of the Kent County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at the Michigan home where they recovered Lidocaine burn cream, gauze wrappings, a locking pick and the Volkswagen Passat that had been spotted on surveillance video.

Police interviewed Jones who denied being in Pennsylvania at the time of the fire, according to officials. Police said they obtained surveillance video showing Jones was at a Wawa about an hour away from Bensalem the morning of the fire, however. Jones’ father also told police a phone app tracked his son to Pennsylvania around the time the fire started, according to court documents.

Jones was then arrested and charged with attempted homicide, arson and other related offenses.

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“It is clear to us that Mr. Jones had murderous intentions that evening,” McVey said. “He drove over 730 miles, 11 hours, to do what he did and then drove directly back home.”

Jones speaks out

While being held in custody in Michigan last year, Jones spoke with NBC10’s sister station WOOD-TV. During the interview, Jones admitted to driving to Pennsylvania but denied breaking into the Bucks County home and setting it on fire.

“I didn’t want to do any of this. I feel so bad that the house got burned down,” Jones said at the time. “It wasn’t me that set the fire and yeah, I guess I was, I was forced to.”

Jones claimed he traveled to Pennsylvania because he was forced to by others who threatened the people he loved. He didn’t go into detail about the individuals he claimed threatened him or what those threats supposedly were, however.

“I drove alone out there and I think they were already out there,” Jones said. “I had like a three, maybe four-hour block in my memory where I don’t remember anything.”

Jones denied being jealous of the Pennsylvania man who had communicated with his ex-girlfriend and claimed he only wanted her to be happy.

“I feel really bad,” he said. “I ruined her Valentine’s Day. I mean, I didn’t burn down the house.”

Jones also told WOOD-TV that he had undergone sporadic mental health treatment but hadn’t been diagnosed with anything and didn’t have any mental illnesses.

Despite denying it a year ago, during his court appearance on Thursday, Jones admitted to setting the house on fire, apologized and said that he deserved his sentencing.

Family members speak out

The Zalenski family attended Thursday’s sentencing, including Stacy’s husband Andrew Zalenski, who was in a medically-induced coma for days after the fire.

“When you sit there and you think about everything, you have so many different emotions,” Andrew Zalenski said. “Until you get up there and you have to read your statement and stuff like that, and then everything floods back.”

The Zalenski family said they’re still rebuilding but the sentencing allows them to do so with a sense of security that was robbed of them during the fire.

“The person who did this is behind bars where he should be,” Stacy Zalenski said. “He can’t harm anybody else.”