Crime & Safety

Police: Arrested Villanova Student Tries to Set Fire to Cell Mattress

The following information has been supplied by the Lower Merion Police Department. If arrests or charges are mentioned, they do not indicate guilt or a conviction.

A 22-year-old Villanova student on May 8 was arrested and charged with public drunkenness and then tried to set a mattress on fire while he was being held, according to the Lower Merion Police Department.

Mateusz Przewloka, a Villanova student from Poland, was staggering along the 700 block of W Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr, waving his arms, when he was stopped by police at 9:02 p.m. May 8, police said.

Police had to hold Przewloka up to keep him from falling, and the officer on duty determined that Przewloka was intoxicated to a degree that made him dangerous to himself, according to the police.

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Przewloka was transported back to police headquarters to sober up, police said, and while he was in the cell, Przewloka used a cigarette lighter to attempt to start a mattress fire. 

Przewloka was held and arraigned on a third degree felony charge of risking catastrophe, misdemeanor charges of institutional vandalism and possession of an instrument of crime with intent to use, and summary charges of public drunkenness and criminal mischief to a public building, according to court documents. His bail is set at $15,000 cash, and a hearing is scheduled for May 22, according to court documents.

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