North Plainfield man sentenced to eight years in prison for setting house fire
SOMERVILLE – A North Plainfield man has been sentenced to eight years in state prison for setting a fire that destroyed and damaged three houses on Maple Avenue in May 2020.
Jonathan Davies, 27, was sentenced Monday by Superior Court Judge Peter Tober after pleading guilty on Oct. 19 to arson, burglary and endangering charges.
"I feel terrible it got so out of control," Davies told the judge, adding that he's praying for forgiveness.
"I never meant this to happen," Davies said. "I wish I could take it back, but I can't."
"I hope my neighbors' lives get back to normal," he said.
Davies pleaded guilty to setting fire to a house under construction on Maple Avenue that spread to neighboring homes.
Gordon Lane, whose house was one of the neighboring structures destroyed in the blaze, told the judge that his family is "still displaced" and living in temporary housing.
"It's been very difficult for us," Lane said.
Lane said his family was able to escape the fire after being awoken by the sound of "crackling" wood.
"I cannot express how frightening it was," he said.
All his family's possessions were lost in the blaze which was so hot that it melted the siding on another neighboring house.
"It was all taken away in a flash," he said.
Lane said that Davies should receive the prison sentence that was part of his plea agreement.
"No one has the right to do this to another person," he said.
Prosecutors have said surveillance video from a house across the street showed Davies walking into the house under construction at 1:49 a.m. May 27, 2020, then leaving and returning multiple times. About an hour later, prosecutors said, Davies called 911 to report the fire.
He then returned to the scene with his father and together, they watched firefighters, prosecutors said. One firefighter was injured with smoke inhalation.
At the time of the initial detention hearing after the arrest, Tober noted that evidence showed that Davies once posted on Facebook a picture of a fire with the comment, “I'm fascinated with fire.”
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: North Plainfield NJ man sentenced to 8 years for setting house fire