A Pennsylvania man has been accused of igniting a deadly fire that forced residents to sustain horrific injuries by jumping from windows after his romantic advances were rejected by a woman who lived inside the building. Robert Zimmerman, 40, was arrested and questioned about the arson attack that killed Brandy Phillippe, 44, and seriously injured two of her neighbors this week.
The Lewistown Police Department (LPD) said they believe Zimmerman started the fire after he confessed his love to Phillippe and she turned him down. Officers arrived at her home in the 200 block of Bratton Avenue in Lewistown Borough just before midnight on Wednesday, where they were met by distressed residents who told them people were trapped inside the burning building.
LPD described the harrowing scene officers encountered. "Contact was made with a male who had significant facial injuries sustained from jumping from the second floor," the department said in a statement. The man was later flown to a burn trauma center for internal burns in his throat. LPD added that officers also tried to help "a female hanging out a window on the second floor."
Brandy Phillippe, 44, died in the fire in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, allegedly caused by a man she rejected. Zimmerman was arrested on an outstanding warrant and questioned regarding the fatal arson. Officials said two others were seriously injured. Witnesses claimed Zimmerman watched the fire from a nearby alleyway.
"The female refused to jump despite flames emitting from several windows and thick smoke that blocked our view of her," the department said. "It is suspected that she passed out from smoke inhalation and fell onto a concrete sidewalk below, sustaining significant injuries." After the fire was extinguished, officials discovered Phillippe inside, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Mifflin County Coroner's Office.
Witnesses told police that Zimmerman was at the house just before the fire, professing his love for Phillippe. "It was reported that Zimmerman became upset when he was rejected by the female, and he began setting several items on fire on the first floor of the residence," wrote LPD. Phillippe lived in the residence's attic. "Preliminary investigation has determined Ms. Phillippe attempted to flee the residence during the fire but was unable to escape," wrote the coroner's office.
Officials noted that witnesses reported hearing Zimmerman confess to starting the fire and saw him standing in a nearby alley watching the woman's home burn. The authorities added that surveillance images appear to corroborate the witnesses' accounts. Zimmerman was located by police, who said he smelled of smoke and ash at the time of his arrest. He told officials that he had taken fentanyl and was showing signs of an overdose before being taken to the hospital, according to LPD.
After he was discharged, police said they questioned him, and he allegedly made several incriminating statements. LPD said Zimmerman had no recollection of the events during the fire and only remembered moments before and after. "Zimmerman was informed that an occupant of the residence died as a result of the fire, and he had a strong emotional response to this," the department said.
He was booked at the Mifflin County Correctional Facility, and officials are now investigating Phillippe's death as a homicide. Charges were expected to be filed against Zimmerman on Friday. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Lewistown Police Department for an update.
