Arson suspect allegedly changed story

The former assistant fire chief accused in two Coatesville arsons changed his story during questioning by police, admitting that he was buying cocaine near the fires and leaving his five children home alone, a state trooper testified yesterday.

Robert F. Tracey Jr. first told investigators that he never left home, John J. Clifford, a Pennsylvania State Police arson investigator, said at Tracey's preliminary hearing.

But after about an hour of questioning, Tracey said that he left to buy drugs near where the fires occurred and saw the two small blazes, but that he did not attempt to help extinguish them, Clifford said.

District Judge Grover E. Koon ordered Tracey, 37, of Charles Street, held for trial. Tracey is charged with arson, risking catastrophe, and related crimes. He is being held on $2 million bail.

Tracey is accused of setting a fire in the 100 block of Hope Street and another in the 600 block of Madison Street. A porch swing and a garbage can were ignited.

While in the Chester County prison, Tracey was placed in the same jail cell as Roger Barlow Jr., who was arrested in February and charged in nine arsons, including the Fleetwood Street fire that destroyed 15 homes. The two were cell mates for only a few hours.

"Somebody was trying to create a jailhouse snitch," said Francis C. Miller, Tracey's attorney. A captain at the prison said the order to bunk the two together "came from higher up," Miller said.

"The District Attorney's Office had nothing to do with that," said Thomas Ost-Prisco, a Chester County assistant district attorney. Ost-Prisco said that when he was told of the housing issue, he immediately asked that the men be separated. He called the cell assignment a "mistake on the part of prison officials."

Tracey, who appeared to be growing a beard, was only in court briefly. Miller asked that Tracey be moved to where he could hear the proceeding but not be seen by witnesses from the arson scenes. Miller said he wanted to "secure the integrity" of any further identification of his client.

Three other witnesses testified that they saw Tracey in the area where two fires were ignited. The testimony of the three differed slightly on Tracey's physical description and what he was wearing.

Tracey received an award for Officer of the Year in 2004, and was recently promoted to a paid position in Coatesville's West End Fire Company. In March 2007, he pleaded guilty to a bad-checks charge and was sentenced to 12 months' probation, court records show.

Since February 2008, there have been 70 arsons in the Coatesville area.