Mistaken identity frees 1 New Castle arson suspect

NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) — Police in a western Pennsylvania city have dropped charges against a man who was arrested with seven others last month on charges they set 12 arson fires in the last two years.

Police have determined that 20-year-old Stephen Threats, of New Castle, is not the man they were wanted to arrest.

Police say another Stephen Threats, who has a similar birth date but a different birth year, is now wanted by police. They have yet to arrest that man.

Police say the man they wrongly arrested and the man still at large are distant relatives.

The other suspects — who police contend all knew each other — didn’t know the Stephen Threats that was arrested. Also, police say the Stephen Threats they arrested was in jail on other charges when one of the fires was set.