Bellefonte man sentenced for setting fire to a woman’s kitchen, threatening to kill her
A Spring Township man was sentenced to up to nearly two years in county jail after threatening to kill a woman and setting fire to her kitchen last year.
On Monday, Centre County Judge Brian Marshall sentenced Christopher Clinton, 50, to 11 1/2 to 23 1/2 months in county jail. He received credit for about nine months served in the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Clinton was also sentenced to probation, which began Monday and will continue for seven years. He will also pay about $75,000 in restitution.
Clinton was arrested in November after claiming he wanted to “blow up the house” along Jonathan Lane in Bellefonte following an argument. He intended to kill the woman but “decided not to follow through” with that plan, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Clinton told officers he started the fire on the kitchen stove-top, prompting a response from the Undine and Logan fire companies. Police found the microwave was destroyed and kitchen cabinets were charred, while fire alarms and carbon monoxide sensors were ripped from the wall.
In May, Clinton pleaded guilty to one felony count each of arson and risking catastrophe, as well as one misdemeanor count of terroristic threats. Investigators dropped one felony count of causing catastrophe, one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and two summary charges.
After failing to post bail at 10% of $77,500 in November, Clinton began serving time at the county’s correctional facility.
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