A Penn State student is being held in Centre County Correctional Facility after being charged with arson and other related offenses.
According to the police, Benjamin Bishop, 18, turned himself in to the authorities hours after setting the fire alarms off in the first floor of Simmons Hall dorms at Penn State University.
Bishop was caught by the building’s surveillance cameras as he was burning Marlboro Cigarettes and removing and burning the paper attached on the inside of the carton to try and activate the fire alarms, according to police.
After university police offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest, Bishop called the department and turned himself in around 6:35 p.m.
Bishop’s reasoning for trying to set the fire alarms off was because he had gotten in a fight with his girlfriend and wanted to “annoy her back.” He told the police that he was under the influence and had forgotten to take his anxiety medications.
Police said that the 18-year-old is being charged with arson endangering persons, arson endangering property, possession of explosive or incendiary materials or devices, causing or risking catastrophe, and disorderly conduct.
Bishop was arraigned in front of Judge Leslie Dutchot and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 8 a.m. on August 12. He will be in jail unless he can pay off 10 percent of the $100,000 bail.
