Two Long Island men remain in custody after they were arraigned Friday – one, in a hospital bed – on charges of conspiracy to firebomb a government office building in Garden City last month.
In sworn court filings, a Nassau County Police detective describes how Jason Anthony Reyes, 25, and James R. Luca, 46, went at 2 o’clock in the morning on Tuesday September 17, 2024, to the parking lot outside Nassau County Social Services Department on Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Garden City, and set up propane tanks “connected to an igniter for a torch”.
Investigators say Luca threw 3 flares at the propane tanks as they pulled out of the parking lot, trying “to get the propane tanks to explode and/or catch fire.”
The two men allegedly switched cars on Warren Street, East Meadow, and “fled the scene” in a different car.
Public records show the men live in a house in North Merrick.
Luca was arrested earlier this year on arson charges in a case that’s still open, court records show.
It is unclear if a “for profit” reference in the Felony Complaint indicates Reyes got paid for participating in the alleged arson.