PITTSBURGH — William Schneider says he’s in disbelief over what happened at his South 21st Street home Sunday night. Now, two women are charged with arson.
“This is a shock, really. You’re telling me they set toilet paper on fire and everything, like, I don’t know why you would do that,” Schneider said. “I just gave you food; I gave you a place to shower.”
Schneider says everything started after Aubrey Panella borrowed a car from his cousin over the weekend.
Schneider says Panella was only supposed to have the car for 45 minutes but kept it overnight. So, when she showed up on Sunday with the car, Schneider called his cousin to take the car back.
The criminal complaint says Panella “was mad” about the car. She and the other woman went into Schneider’s bathroom, then two minutes later he heard crackling noises.
“I hear like a snap sound coming from the bathroom,” he recalled. “I ran to the bathroom and seen the closet was on fire. I tried to throw water on it. It just blew up. So, I ran to the old bedroom, which is a weight room - grabbed my cat out of the closet,” he said.
Schneider says it was a mad dash to try and put the flames out.
“I was holding the cat. She kept on running back into the house cause I couldn’t put her down. I’m trying to call 911 while holding the cat.”
Pittsburgh firefighters put the fire out in about 10 minutes. Pittsburgh Police charged 21-year-old Aubrey Panella and 20-year-old Ciara Pro with multiple arson charges and cruelty to animals because the cat was inside.
Investigators say the women set rolls of toilet paper and paper towels on fire inside the first-floor bathroom. Pro was arraigned Monday and released on bail. Online records show Panella hasn’t been taken into police custody yet.
No one was injured, but the fire caused over $50,000 worth of damage.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
