GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The West Michigan man accused of driving halfway across the country to set fire to a romantic rival’s home maintained his innocence in a jailhouse interview with News 8, at the same time making nonspecific references to being "forced" to do things by a shadowy online group.
“I didn’t burn down the house, but there’s a lot that I can’t talk about because I can’t risk getting other people hurt in the whole process,” 21-year-old Harrison Jones said, sitting in the Kent County Correctional Facility Thursday.
Police say Jones drove from Rockford to the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, broke into a home in the early hours of Feb. 10 and set the first floor on fire. Six people were asleep inside the home, all of whom narrowly escaped with smoke and burn injuries.
“I had to do what they said. I can’t really say a whole lot about it because like I said, I can’t risk them doing anything worse. But they forced me to do some things I didn’t want to do,” Jones said. “That I had to do, or else (a woman News 8 is not naming) would have ended up getting hurt. My family was put at risk.”
Police reports show Jones told police he had “never been” to Pennsylvania. Speaking to News 8 Thursday, he admitted that he did drive alone to Bensalem, but said he never entered the home in question.
“I have maybe a three- or four-hour block in my memory where I don’t remember anything,” he said. “I was at one of the Wawa gas stations and then I kept driving. The next thing I remember, I was just driving back, out of Pennsylvania.”
Jones would not go into further detail about who “they” are, but said he’s been connected to a dangerous group since he was 17. He said he met these people online through the site Omegle, an app that connects strangers to one another.
“They… I mean, I’m afraid and I’m in jail. I’m locked up and I’m still afraid of them. I just don’t wish anybody else to get hurt,” he said.
Police have said they believe the crime to be romantically motivated. One of Jones’ friends was allegedly involved in an online relationship with a person who lived inside that home.
Jones said that’s simply not the case.
“I feel so bad that I ruined their Valentine’s Day,” he said. “They had nothing to do with this. They are completely victims in this scenario, and I feel so bad about it. I feel really, really bad about it.”
Jones is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania, where he faces 13 felonies and six misdemeanor charges.
He told News 8 that while he has seen therapists in the past, he has never been diagnosed with a mental illness.