EAST ISLIP, NY – A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted an Islip Terrace man accused of setting fire to a popular East Islip bar after being asked to leave the establishment last month.
District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that 60-year-old Paul Lucia faces multiple felony charges, including second-degree arson, for allegedly igniting a blaze behind Riley Fibbers Bar and Restaurant on November 20.
Prosecutors said Lucia had been a patron at the bar earlier that evening but was asked to leave by staff.
Investigators allege he later returned around 7:30 p.m. in a white Jeep Patriot, carrying a gas can and lighter, and was captured on surveillance video pouring liquid near the rear entrance before flames erupted.
Surveillance video and witness lead to arrest
Authorities said the restaurant was open and occupied by both patrons and employees when the fire began, causing damage to the kitchen and an exterior awning. A witness provided police with a license plate number matching Lucia’s Jeep, which was later discovered to have stolen plates.
Detectives from the Suffolk County Police Arson Squad recovered a gas can cap from a flowerpot outside the bar and a gas can from an adjacent property where Lucia was allegedly seen tossing it over a fence. A certified ignitable detection canine from the Suffolk County Fire Marshal’s Office confirmed the presence of accelerants at several points around the scene.
Suspect arrested on Sunrise Highway
Lucia was arrested the following day after officers located him and his Jeep on Sunrise Highway. Police said they found a lighter inside the vehicle.
He was arraigned Tuesday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz on one count of second-degree arson, one count of third-degree arson, and two counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
Facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted
Justice Horowitz ordered Lucia held on $100,000 cash bail, $250,000 bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond. Lucia is scheduled to return to court on January 14 and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Sean Lorthioir of the Major Crime Bureau’s Arson Unit, with the investigation led by Detectives John Boreshesky and Michael Langella of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Arson Squad.