Feb 1, 2017 3 min read

A Monongahela man wanted on a warrant for allegedly providing alcohol to a 16-year-old girl more than two years ago was arrested early Wednesday by Monongahela police after he allegedly set small fires in his house and threatened to burn it down.

Dean Colton Cooper, 28, of 402 Second St., is charged with arson, terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Police were called to the home about 1 a.m. for a reported domestic. When police arrived, a man came out of the house and told police that Cooper had run out the back door and was going down Jackson Street. After getting a description, police from Monongahela and Carroll Township found him about two blocks away near the intersection of Second and Main streets.

Chief Brian Tempest said Cooper’s girlfriend told police that she and Cooper had gotten into an argument over cigarettes. She left the house for about an hour while he was sleeping.

When she returned, Cooper was still sleeping but woke up and became irate about her whereabouts. Cooper reportedly took her cigarettes, crumbled them up and threw them on the floor. He also allegedly started to set items on fire, throwing them on the floor. Tempest said the girlfriend told police that she was able to stomp out the small fires.

Cooper also allegedly threatened to burn down the house and kill her. He allegedly pulled out a small penknife and threatened her with it, before grabbing her arm and yanking it back.

A man who was upstairs heard the commotion and came down the stairs. He confronted Cooper, who allegedly punched him the eye. The two continued to struggle until Cooper ran from the home. Tempest said the three people in the house, including the mother of Cooper’s girlfriend, were concerned he would retaliate and make good on his threats to burn down the house.

The woman identified as Cooper’s girlfriend is the person he is accused of giving alcohol to on Dec. 6, 2014. Cooper was charged with corruption of minors and furnishing alcohol to minors. Her mother called police after Cooper reportedly dropped off the girl at her home and left. The then-16-year-old was taken to Monongahela Valley Hospital and later transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for treatment because she was highly intoxicated. Police said her blood-alcohol content was almost six times the 0.02 percent limit at which intoxication is presumed in anyone under the age of 21.

Cooper was arraigned before District Judge David Mark on the arson-related charges and placed in Washington County Jail on $50,000 bond. He was arraigned by video later Wednesday morning before District Judge Mark Wilson on the corruption and alcohol charges. Wilson set an additional bond of $5,000. Cooper is scheduled for a Feb. 16 hearing before Wilson on both sets of charges.