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| Eight N.Y. Inmates Face Jail Arson Charges |
| By Newsday |
| Published: 02/03/2003 |
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Inmates sparked flames using batteries from a radio and burned sheets, milk cartons and anything flammable within their reach in four separate fires in a Nassau County jail cell block on January 25, Nassau police said. Seven inmates were charged for their roles in the fires that blazed through the same cell block, each starting at different times within a two-hour time span, said Nassau Police Deputy Insp. Jay Caputo, commanding officer of the major offense squad. It is not known why the inmates began the blazes, Caputo said. Inmates sparked the flames and then threw in any materials they could burn -- including cereal cartons, paper, clothing and mattress stuffing. The fires were started in the common area of the cell block in the East Meadow jail, scorching the floors and bars, Caputo said. 'They were resourceful in using whatever material they had available to them to start the fire,' police spokesman Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone said. Correction officers quickly doused the flames and 18 inmates had to be evacuated because of the smoke, Caputo said. There were no injuries. The seven inmates were arrested at the jail Friday morning after a joint investigation between the Nassau County Police Arson/Bomb Squad, the county fire marshal's office and the county Sheriff's Bureau of Investigation. Nassau County Legis. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin), chair of the public safety committee, said arrests should have been made sooner. 'There has to be an immediate arrest or else it undermines the correction officers' authority,' Scannell said. Repalone said police responded to the jail by 9 p.m. and immediately began investigating after the fires were contained. After the arrests, the inmates were taken to police headquarters in Mineola and charged with second-degree arson. |
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