Man sentenced to probation in reckless endangerment case

Michael Linehan, 54, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with February domestic incident

A 54-yearold Lansdale man has been sentenced to probation after admitting to a February incident in which he set his girlfriend’s clothes on fire and urinated on her personal property during a domestic disturbance, court records indicate.

Michael Patrick Linehan, of the 300 block of East Main Street, appeared in Montgomery County court and pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person. Prosecutors dropped a felony arson charge, as well as summary counts of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, as part of the plea agreement, records show.

Linehan was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to have no contact with the victim in the case, and assessed more than $2,200 in court costs, according to court records.

Lansdale police had said that on the evening of Feb. 19, cops responded to Linehan’s residence after his girlfriend called 911 and said that Linehan was drunk and had lit a piece of her clothing on fire. Outside the home, officers encountered Linehan, whose breath reeked of alcohol while telling police he had been arguing with his girlfriend since the previous night, according to a criminal complaint.

Linehan’s girlfriend told cops that Linehan had been drinking for two days and that he had pushed and shoved her during a quarrel the night before, and that just before she called police, Linehan threw a fullsized Christmas tree across the living room, urinated on her backpack which contained personal items, and then set fire to her purple sweater, which was sitting on top of a laundry basket full of clothes, the complaint indicates.

The woman said she extinguished the flaming sweater before calling police. Inside the residence, described in the complaint as “in disarray,” cops found the Christmas tree laying on its side in the living room and observed the woman’s backpack was “saturated with a liquid,” as was the carpet surrounding it, according to the complaint. The charred sweater was near a laundry basket, as well as other piles of clothing and wood furniture, and a Fairmount Fire Company official was called to the scene to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.

Linehan was taken into custody, and a pair of Bic disposable lighters were found in his pants pocket, according to police. The lighters and the charred sweater were seized as evidence.

In a separate case, Linehan pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor driving under the influence charge stemming from an arrest in 2016 and was sentenced to 72 hours to 6 months behind bars, and ordered to complete 12 hours of community service, records show.

Jail records indicated Monday Linehan is not currently in custody.