SHENANDOAH A preliminary hearing for a Mahanoy City man charged with severely beating a woman and then setting her house on fire has been scheduled for next month.

Joseph C. Yeich, 28, of 1229 E. Mahanoy Ave., was charged with assaulting Elrena L. Gibson inside a home at 1031 E. Pine St. and then setting a fire in the basement that damaged that building and others attached to it just before 9 p.m. Dec. 11.Mahanoy City police Patrolman Christopher Zubris charged Yeich with two felony counts each of aggravated assault and criminal mischief, one felony count each of arson and related offenses and causing or risking a catastrophe, two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and five misdemeanor counts to recklessly endangering another person.He was arraigned during the early morning hours of Dec. 12 by on-call Magisterial District Judge Stephen J. Bayer, Tamaqua, and committed to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $50,000 straight cash bail.Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker will conduct Yeich's preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Jan. 16 in his Shenandoah courtroom.Following the assault, Gibson was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Cedar Crest where she was admitted for head and facial injuries she suffered. The woman, who also had chemical bleach thrown on her by Yeich, is now recovering, borough police said.Zubris, in his criminal complaint, said that Gibson fled the house as Yeich lit the fire and was found sitting on the sidewalk with massive head trauma and bleeding profusely from both her head and face.Zubris said the incident unfolded when he and Patrolman Robert Romanick were called for a report of an automatic fire alarm about 8:55 p.m. and, while on the way, was told there was a fire in the basement and also a domestic dispute at the same address.At the scene, Zubris said there was heavy smoke coming from the basement of the home and that, during a brief talk with Gibson, the woman told him "Joe Yeich did this."Zubris said three witnesses pulled him to the side and said that Yeich told them Gibson tried to kill him so he beat her up and set the house on fire because the devil made him do it.Yeich was located a short time later inside a home at 1038 E. Market St. and taken into custody without incident, Zubris said, adding that the man said to him "the devil made me do it."Anthony Blackwell, Mahanoy City Fire Department safety officer and administrative assistant, said crews worked quickly to locate the fire and put it out, but not before it spread to the basement of the home at 1033 E. Pine St.Blackwell said homes at 1027 and 1029 E. Pine St. sustained moderate to heavy smoke damage, temporarily displacing residents, while a home at 1035 E. Pine St. sustained minor smoke damage.Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal Trooper John F. Burns was at the scene and determined the fire was intentionally set and ruled the cause as arson.Distributed by MCT Information Services