Lebanon man charged with burning down a Montgomery County auto mechanic shop
Sean Gahagan, 56, of Lebanon is facing various arson charges for allegedly setting a fire that destroyed a Montgomery County mechanic's shop where he used to work.
At 8:45 p.m. on Dec. 29, firefighters and Upper Moreland Police Department officers were dispatched to a fire at JG Transmissions, an auto mechanic shop at the 600 block of Davis Road. Upon arrival, crews found the commercial building engulfed in flames.
At 8:30 p.m. the same day, officials said Lower Moreland Police Department officers were called to a Huntingdon Pike residence for a shed fire. The fire was put out by police using with a fire extinguisher prior to the arrival of firefighters.
An investigation into the cause of both fires found that they were intentionally set, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's office.
"Inside the shed, fire investigators found a can of fire-starting fluid and a can of 'Gum Cutter,' which is a highly flammable product used to clean various parts of automotive engines," officials said in a press release. "The fire investigators found that '“'Gum Cutter'”' is a product used by JG Transmissions."
During the investigation, police found that Sean Gahagan, a former employee of JG Transmissions, had visited the business at 10 a.m. on the day of the fire asking for work, but was told none was available. Gahagan was wearing a hooded camouflage jacket and driving a red Chevrolet Cobalt.
"Detectives secured surveillance video from the 600 block of Davisville Road captured a Cobalt type vehicle parking at a business near JG Transmissions, then showed a male running from the car toward JG Transmissions and running back to car about six minutes before the fire was reported to 911," officials said, adding the same car was sighted near the shed fire.
On Jan. 1, Lebanon City Police arrested Gahagan for allegedly trespassing inside a church. Officials said that at the time of Gahagan's arrest, he was wearing a camouflage jacket that matched the subject’s jacket seen in the surveillance video.
License plate readers also matched Gahagan’s vehicle to the one at the shed fire.
Gahagan has been charged with first-degree felony arson, along with six other felony counts of arson, risking catastrophe, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and possessing an instrument of crime.
Gahagan is being held at the Montgomery Correctional Facility, unable to make bail that was set at $500,000 as of Friday.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon PA man charged with burning down Montgomery Co. mechanic shop
