Warminster Man Threatened to Blow Up Apartment, Police Say

A Warminster man faces several charges of arson, reckless endangerment and assault after police say he set fire to his apartment and choked his wife after she tried to prevent him from drinking and driving.

Warminster police officers responded to a converted, two-unit apartment building on Bristol Road at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 29 over a call that a man was beating up a woman and screaming like an animal.

When officers entered the lower apartment, the report says, they saw a three-foot fire on top of the refrigerator and along the wall, with a man later identified as Timothy Treon, Jr., 35, facing the fire and holding a metal spray paint can.

According to the affidavit, the responding officer heard a loud hissing sound and yelled for Treon and anybody else in the building to evacuate. Police say that Treon told the officer, "Get the people upstairs out. I'm gonna blow this place. Make sure they are out."

Police say that Treon then walked into the bedroom, screamed at the officers to get the people upstairs out, then reached out the doorway and sprayed a paint can at the fire. He threw the can on the floor and went back in the bedroom, according to the statement.

Officers followed Treon into the bedroom and detected strong paint fumes throughout the apartment, the affidavit says. After repeated verbal commands, Treon came out of the bedroom and was taken into custody, police say.

After the Warminster Fire Department extinguished the fire, officers began investigating the scene, the report says. According to the criminal complaint, the remains of an electric model airplane was found on top of the refrigerator, and two burners on the adjacent glass-top stove were turned on high.

Police say the top of the stove was broken and exposed the burner coil, which was red and producing heat. Cans of spray paint and Rust-oleum were found throughout the apartment, according to police. Officers also found three chunks of hair similar to Treon's wife's hair, the affidavit says.

Treon's wife told police that he had been drinking heavily and wanted to drive, but she tried to prevent him from getting in the car, according to the report. She told officers that Treon began choking her, pushed her to the ground, then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the floor, the affidavit says. She managed to get away from Treon and flee to the neighbors' apartment, according to police.

According to the neighbor, Treon's wife ran to the rear of the property screaming, "He's trying to set our houses on fire, he's gonna blow it up." The neighbor grabbed her two children and ran out of the house, police say.

Treon has been confined to Bucks County prison in lieu of payment of $250,000 bail.