Firebug takes plea deal in near-fatal Queens arson spree, will serve 15 years

A Queens arsonist whose deliberate location and conveyance fires near 2 radical critically wounded implicit the people of respective hours has taken a plea deal that volition effect successful him being sentenced to 15 years successful prison, officials said Tuesday..

The menacing firebug lit respective blazes successful South Ozone Park connected July 4, including a location occurrence that near 2 residents hospitalized for much than a month.

Evan Person, 35, pleaded blameworthy past Thursday to second-degree arson. Fire marshals said video tracked Person implicit respective blocks, for respective hours, and captured footage of him mounting occurrence to 2 cars.

Investigators aboriginal linked him to a location occurrence astatine 107th St. adjacent 109th Ave. He was arrested July 24.

“These reckless acts of arson endangered the lives of New Yorkers and FDNY members,” said FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker. “Thanks to the fantabulous investigative lawsuit enactment of our Fire Marshals and our adjacent collaboration with the Queens District Attorney’s Office, this perpetrator volition beryllium down bars for a agelong time.”

The archetypal indictment against Person listed charges including burglary, reckless endangerment, transgression mischief and endangering the payment of a child.

“This suspect is simply a serial arsonist who acceptable occurrence to vehicles and an occupied location implicit the people of little than an hr successful South Ozone Park,” said Queens DA Melinda Katz. “The defendant’s reckless actions earnestly injured 2 of the home’s occupants and they were hospitalized for much than a period aft the incident.”

Person was antecedently sentenced to jailhouse time for mounting cars connected occurrence successful 2017 and 2018. A justice sentenced Person to 4 to 8 years successful situation aft helium pleaded blameworthy to mounting 9 cars connected occurrence during a three-month stretch.