A Coatesville man who was charged with two arsons, one of which killed an 83-year-old Nazi work camp survivor, was held for trial today on charges he set four additional fires.
George Donkewicz, 23, appeared before Magisterial District Judge Grover E. Koon, who concluded that sufficient evidence existed to advance the cases to Chester County Court.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco presented testimony about fires set on June 18, 2007, in the 300 block of Charles Street; June 16, 2008, in the unit block of West Fifth Avenue; Aug. 22, 2008, in the 300 block of Lemon Street; and Nov. 12 in the 200 block of Madison Street.
No one was injured in the four fires, but the estimated damage is more than $130,000, the criminal complaint said.
Donkewicz was first charged with arson on Dec. 9 after police identified him in a surveillance video that captured him setting a trash fire in the unit block of Strode Avenue. He has been held without bail since then.
Investigators said Donkewicz confessed Dec. 9 to starting the trash fire as well as the blaze two days earlier on the same block that killed Irene Kempest, 83, a widow who had survived imprisonment in a World War II German work camp. He also admitted he set the other four fires, according to police.
Donkewicz is one of six defendants accused of setting fires in the summer and winter of 2008 and early 2009 during a 14-month arson scourge in the Coatesville area. Investigators reported 70 set fires, including one that burned most of the 300 block of Fleetwood Street and prompted intervention from Gov. Rendell.
A task force of local, state and federal authorities was set up, and Coatesville received $500,000 in state aid to pay for police and fire overtime. The investigation continues, with charges filed in less than half of the 70 cases.
Contact staff writer Kathleen Brady Shea at 610-696-3815 or kbrady@phillynews.com.
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