NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Queens man pleaded guilty to a Fourth of July arson spree that included him setting a home on fire, seriously injuring two people sleeping in the basement, District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Tuesday.
Evan Person, 35, was indicted on charges of arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, petit larceny, criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child for the July 4 incident.
“This defendant is a serial arsonist who set fire to vehicles and an occupied home over the course of less than an hour in South Ozone Park,” Katz said. “The defendant’s reckless actions seriously injured two of home’s occupants and they were hospitalized for more than a month after the incident.”
At about 4 a.m. on the day of the fires, video surveillance captured Person lighting the bumper of a BMW sedan on fire in front of 105-20 Vansiclen St. in South Ozone Park, causing it to melt. The bumper of a nearby Toyota RAV4 also melted because of the first fire, prosecutors said.