The co-owner of Pavona's Pizza Joint, which was destroyed in a fire, pleaded guilty to arson on Tuesday, according to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.
Mark Mickey, 57, was charged with fourth-degree felony arson.
He originally pleaded not guilty in February of 2023.
In October of 2022, Mickey set fire to the establishment located on Sand Run Road.
The fire broke out in the morning and not only destroyed the pizza shop, but also Mickey's Irish Pub, which was located next door and was also owned by his wife, Courtney Pavona.
RELATED: Pavona's Pizza Joint in Akron catches fire Friday
Akron officials said over 2.5 million gallons of water were used to put the fire out, and it took more than five hours to control.
The electrical panels in that room had fire patterns and damage consistent with a fire moving from an origin point under the staircase across the panels.
“The panels have been inspected and have been determined to not be the cause of the fire,” the police report stated. “There is no other competent ignition source, and no explainable plausible way for the fire to have occurred in that location under the stairs other than by human hand.”
The report claimed that Mickey lied to investigators about the establishment not having a motion alarm system and about having a monitored smoke detection system.
Additionally, it was revealed that Mickey had sent a text to his friend that morning asking about rental prices for a bedroom, and after police spoke with the friend, they discovered that Mickey and Pavona were getting a divorce and he needed a place to stay.
News 5 spoke with Mickey and Pavona after the fire in 2022, and Mickey appeared to be fighting back tears while trying to understand the cause of the fire.
"Our whole family put a lot into this place, our whole family, the kids, me and her put our hearts and souls into this place," Mickey said in 2022 about the business, which had been open since 2016.
