Firefighter Accused Of Setting Series Of Fires
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A Long Island firefighter accused of intentionally starting several fires faced a judge on Monday.
Christopher Cordeiro, 20, is facing arson and criminal possession of a weapon charges.
Nassau County police say the Bethpage firefighter has set at least five fires in Bethpage since March.
The most recent incident happened Sunday when a shed caught fire on North Herman Avenue. In that fire, a witness to the responding crew says he saw Cordeiro among the firefighters who put out the blaze.
"We heard the explosion, it was sort of an explosion of course because there was a Molotov cocktail," said neighbor Gregory Martin. "That went off and we came out, and the fire department was already responding. The neighbors were all out alerting them to get out of their house."
"I feel sorry for him, for his mental state that he would have to resort to damaging someone's property and put people at risk to get hurt," said Dianna Cantone, another neighbor who watched the fire.
Police charges also involve previous incidents involving a wooded area on Broadway on Aug. 10, an abandoned house on Stewart Avenue on Aug. 5, a dumpster fire on March 1, and a Molotov cocktail fire across from a building on Arthur Avenue on June 25, 2017.
Cordero was grated bond, but so far he hasn't paid it and neither has anyone else on his behalf.
