Clifton Heights man accused of vandalizing Railroaders Memorial Museum
Ian Ansumana Jabateh allegedly tossed Molotov cocktail at railcar

The executive director of the Railroaders Memorial Museum said he is thankful for emergency responders and a passerby after rocks and a Molotov cocktail were thrown at museum property Saturday morning.
Executive Director Joe DeFrancesco said the damage at the museum consisted of a broken window pane and will be easy to fix, but it could have been a lot worse.
According to Altoona police, Ian Ansumana Jabateh, 23, of Clifton Heights was spotted about 6:17 a.m. Saturday in the area of Station Medical Center on Ninth Avenue where he was setting things on fire and igniting Molotov cocktails.
When police arrived, Jabateh was standing near the driver’s side door of his vehicle and throwing rocks at the windows of the Railroaders Memorial Museum.
Jabateh complied with officers’ orders and was taken into custody. At that time, police determined he was intoxicated.
Through the investigation, police learned that Jabateh set a pair of shoes on fire on the 1500 block of Ninth Avenue before driving erratically in the Station Mall McDonald’s drive thru. While he was in the drive thru, police said he attempted to light a paper towel on fire and insert it into a glass bottle but was unsuccessful.
After exiting the drive thru, police said Jabateh drove east through the parking lot until he reached the original museum building, the one closest to the Station Medical Center, where he threw a Molotov cocktail at a black scale test railcar on exhibit outside — having previously doused the railcar in gasoline, according to police and DeFrancesco.
The railcar was not damaged, DeFrancesco said.
Jabateh then got back into his vehicle, drove onto a curb, and exited the vehicle to throw rocks at the main museum building, known as the Master Mechanics Building.
He broke one window pane on the second floor, on the end of the building that faces the parking lot, DeFrancesco said.
The pane measures approximately 10 by 14 inches, he said, noting it will be easy to repair.
Police credited a bystander for extinguishing multiple small fires before they grew out of control.
The museum is grateful for the police response and for the bystander, DeFrancesco said.
“It could have been a completely different story” if not for their actions, he said.
Jabateh’s vehicle was seized from the scene so a search warrant could be executed. Multiple pieces of evidence were collected from each crime scene, police reported.
Jabateh was arraigned Saturday afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Matthew Dunio on felony counts of arson of a historic resource – explosion, risking a catastrophe and criminal attempt – criminal mischief intentionally damaging property, along with misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, institutional vandalism, recklessly endangering another person and DUI.
Bail was set at $500,000 and Jabateh was remanded to the Blair County Prison. His preliminary hearing is set for May 21 before Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones.