By Phil Corso
A 22-year-old Sunnyside man was arrested and charged with setting five fires within a block of where he lives, police said Monday night.
Devon Page was charged with five counts of arson in connection to four trash fires and the torching of a former city councilman’s SUV, according to the NYPD and the former politician.
At about 5 a.m. Sunday, a 2007 Mercury Mariner belonging to former City Councilman Eric Gioia was spotted in flames in his driveway near 49th Street and 39th Avenue, cops said. Officers who responded then found four rubbish fires near 50th Street and 39th Avenue and around 49th Street and 39th Avenue, the NYPD said.
Gioia said he and his family were unharmed on his Twitter page.
“I’m fine, kids and Lisa are safe –FDNY just put out fire,” the three-term councilman tweeted. “My car just went up like a Roman candle while in my driveway.”
The NYPD had said there was no evidence to suggest Gioia’s car was targeted, and no one was injured in any of the fires, police said.
