Plum homeowner accused of trying to blow up his house with natural gas
Share this post:
A Plum man’s apparent change of heart might have saved the borough from another house explosion, according to court documents.
Neil Andrew Yetsko, 39, is charged with risking a catastrophe by creating a natural gas leak in his home then leaving town with two candles burning inside the home, police said in a criminal complaint.
Police charged Yetsko on Thursday with three counts of criminal attempt of arson, one count of causing or risking catastrophe, and recklessly endangering another person.
The incident happened the morning of Nov. 16 on Kathy Lynn Drive in Plum’s Regency Park neighborhood. Allegheny County Fire Marshal Don Brucker contacted police the same day about Yetsko’s suspicious behavior.
A Plum police detective said he found inconsistencies in Yetsko’s story after interviewing him four times, most recently on Wednesday.
According to the complaint, Yetsko went out of town Nov. 15, leaving two candles burning inside his home. The next day, he called Peoples Gas and reported a gas leak while he was out of town.
The incident could have led to another home explosion in a community still leery of safety concerns after six people were killed when a home exploded in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood in August 2023.
After getting Yetsko’s call, Peoples Gas crews detected the odor of gas, shut down the gas and electrical power and called firefighters. Peoples Gas workers and firefighters forced their way into the house, where the two candles were found burning. Yetsko arrived on scene after entry was forced, the complaint states.
Yetsko called Peoples Gas and told them on a recorded line that his friend stopped at his house and smelled gas, the complaint states. Later that morning, Yetsko told an officer that a friend stopped for breakfast and smelled gas at his front door. Yetsko said he contacted his neighbor, who went over and smelled the gas.
In the detective’s first interview with Yetsko on Nov. 18, Yetsko said he believed the gas leak was caused when he pulled his stove out to clean it after spilling food on it Nov. 13, the complaint states. Yetsko again said he found out about the leak Nov. 16 after a friend stopped over and contacted him.
However, data from Peoples Gas obtained with a search warrant showed gas coming into Yetsko’s home did not increase the day Yetsko said he moved the stove, the complaint states. Gas did not start pouring into the house until Nov. 15, the complaint said. Police said that information showed an inconsistency in Yetsko’s story.
Police said they learned Yetsko had told three people how the friend had contacted him, by text, phone call and Snapchat. The results of a search warrant found the claim of a phone call was false, according to the complaint.
Yetsko refused to provide information about his friend, the complaint states.
On Nov. 22, a repairman who changed the flex line from the gas line to the stove found that the drop from the stove to the trunk line was loose. He took it apart, cleaned and refitted it, and changed the pipe coming into the house. The line was tested and there was no further leak, according to the complaint.
During questioning Wednesday at the Plum police station, Yetsko said that when he was getting ready to leave, he hit his hand on the stove and in a fit of rage started yanking on it and slamming it around, the complaint states. He is quoted as saying he, “literally heard the gas leaking, then I sat down on the floor for about an hour hoping that house would explode with me in it,” and then left the house.
Asked about the candles, Yetsko said he left them burning accidentally, the complaint states.
The morning of Nov. 16, Yetsko told police he “snapped out” of whatever state of mind he was in, remembered his neighbors were home and reported the leak, the complaint states.
Yetsko had not been arraigned on the charges as of Friday morning, according to court records. He did not have an attorney listed in his court paperwork.