Man charged with setting fire to flags at Uniontown plaza
Rebecca Devereaux|TikTok成人版
Marshall Plaza in Downtown Uniontown.
By Garrett Neese
newsroom@heraldstandard.com
A homeless man is charged with setting fire to international flags in the George Marshall Memorial Plaza Friday morning.
Shortly before 7 a.m., Uniontown police found Bartholomew Jones, 49, raising the Turkish flag on a pole as it was actively burning, according to the criminal complaint. They had been dispatched to the scene upon hearing reports of a man pulling down the Chinese flag and lighting it on fire.
Police arrested Jones as the fire department arrived on scene and put out the fire, the complaint said.
Jones faces charges in connection with the Turkish flag as well as that of Sweden, which was also found to be burnt beyond use.
There was no motive indicated for the fires or the choice of flags.
The city put the cost of replacing the flags and ropes at $280.06.
Dedicated in 2003, the park honors Marshall, a Uniontown native who went on to become U.S. secretary of state and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jones is charged with institutional vandalism of property, a third-degree felony, as well as misdemeanor charges of intentional desecration of public property, receiving stolen property and theft. He was also cited for criminal mischief.
His bond was set at $40,000. Jones is lodged in the Fayette County jail.