Dublin woman charged with attempted arson at Havana in New Hope

Andrea Lynne Dewolf, 51, of Dublin, was charged Monday with attempting to set Havana restaurant/bar in New Hope on fire by lighting gasoline-filled bottles in the bathroom.

Police say she tried the same thing hours earlier Monday at Thompson Memorial Church on Aquetong Road in Solebury.

Dewolf is being held in Bucks County prison on charges of felony arson, risking catastrophe and reckless endangerment.

On Monday at around 1 p.m., Havana employees called New Hope Police after extinguishing a fire in the women’s bathroom, police confirmed. Dewolf had just tried to ignite her second bottle of gasoline, then fled the restaurant, only to return a short time later in search of an iPad she had forgotten.

What New Hope Police didn’t know at the time was that Solebury cops had already investigated a report at 11 a.m. at Thompson Memorial Church of a partially burnt bottle with paper towel protruding from its top in the women’s bathroom.

Both Havana and Thompson Memorial Church had multiple visitors at the time of the alleged arson attempts; potential catastrophes in the making that were apparently narrowly averted. Police allege that Dewolf said she was told to light the Havana fire by voices in her head.

Dewolf will appear at a preliminary hearing Oct. 15 before Judge Michael W. Gallagher.

Havana is located at 105 S. Main St. in New Hope.