A New York man charged with setting fire to a Lancaster Township apartment complex that left multiple residents displaced will have his case proceed to county court following a preliminary hearing earlier this month.

Judge Mary Mongiovi Sponaugle ruled Jan. 6 that the case of Husani Laviscount, of Queens, could proceed to the Court of Common Pleas on a single count each of arson, burglary, risking catastrophe and criminal mischief as well as eight counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Laviscount, 38, is accused of breaking into a unit in the Kensington Club apartment complex in the 600 block of Wyncroft Lane and setting the fire in April 2021. After setting the fire Laviscount drove back to his Queens residence, where he arrived the following morning.

Firefighters who responded to the scene were able to successfully extinguish the blaze, but not before the flames damaged most of the interior of the two-story apartment and spread to five other units.

Eight people were inside the affected apartments when the fire began, though none were injured.

A subsequent investigation which involved a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal and a certified accelerant K9 identified six different locations where fires were set inside the apartment, including a sofa and a bed, as well as the presence of an ignitable liquid.  

Investigators also found damage to the apartment unit’s door which indicated it had been kicked in. All of the smoke detectors inside the apartment had been sabotaged, delaying notification of danger to the residents and the fire department and allowing the blaze to cause greater destruction.

Phone records and surveillance videos enabled investigators to track Laviscount from his New York City residence to the location of the fire and back.

Laviscount remains in Lancaster County Prison without bail due to being deemed a flight risk.

Manheim Township Police Det. Anthony Lombardo filed the charges.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman will prosecute the case.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.