A South Ozone Park man was sentenced for torching nine cars in his neighborhood between December 2017 and February 2018, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Evan Person, 29, pleaded guilty to third-degree arson charges on Nov. 28. He was sentenced to serve four to eight years in prison.
“The defendant endangered the welfare of first responders and residents in his community by intentionally setting these vehicles on fire,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “His actions led to the allocation of manpower and resources that could have been spent responding to other pressing matters. As such, the sentenced imposed by the Court is more than warranted.”
According to court records, Person set five cars on fire in the early hours of Dec. 15, 2017, at various locations on 116th Street. The FDNY extinguished the fires and the badly burned vehicles were later identified as a 2006 Nissan, a 1998 Mercedes Benz, a 2000 Ford Excursion, a 2009 Nissan and a 2014 Mercedes Benz.
The fires continued on Feb. 6, 2018. Just after midnight that day, Person set three more cars on fire, 1998 Honda Civic, a 2003 Mitsubishi and a 2008 Kia, which were parked on 124th Street. After the FDNY put out the fires, law enforcement officials determined that Person was causing the fires.
The final fire took place on Feb. 16 when Person set a 2004 Buick parked in front of a home on 109th Avenue.
Following an investigation by fire marshals, Person was arrested and charged for the arsons.
