Man Who Threatened to Burn People Gets Jail

A Phillipsburg man is headed to prison for sloshing gasoline on an Easton mobile home and threatening to burn the people inside, according to published reports.

William C. Hubbard, 46, received a one-year county jail sentence, according to the Express-Times.

The newspaper says Hubbard will be eligible for immediate work release. 
Hubbard was charged in February with arson, criminal trespass and reckless endangerment.

According to police, Hubbard showed up at the mobile home at 805 Canal St. on February 6 tried to get in.  When he couldn't, he began pouring gasoline onto the home, and talking to the three people inside -- a 27-year-old man, an 18-year-old man, and a 2-year-old girl. 

"Do you smell that?" Hubbard allegedly said. "You're all going to burn."

Eventually, he was able to get in and grab the owner of the home, Drew Freeman, by the throat, police said.

But officers were on their way, and Hubbard ran out the door and was detained, police said.

According to police, Hubbard smelled like gasoline, and investigators found a gas can near the home.

The Morning Call says Northampton County Judge Leonard Zito called the case "bizarre" and told Hubbard "I don't know how much more reckless you could have been."