Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Evan Person pleaded guilty to arson in the second degree for setting fire to cars in South Ozone Park and entering a home where he set a blaze that critically injured two of its occupants.

District Attorney Katz said: “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. The defendant’s reckless actions seriously injured two of home’s occupants and they were hospitalized for more than a month after the incident. We thank our partners at the FDNY Fire Marshals for their collaboration on this case.”

FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said: “These reckless acts of arson endangered the lives of New Yorkers and FDNY members. Thanks to the excellent investigative case work of our Fire Marshals and our close collaboration with the Queens District Attorney’s Office, this perpetrator will be behind bars for a long time. I want to commend everyone involved for their efforts to ensure this dangerous individual does not harm any more New Yorkers.”

Person, 35, of Linden Boulevard, was indicted by a grand jury for two counts of arson in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, arson in the second degree, burglary in the second degree, two counts of arson in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, two counts of criminal mischief in the second degree, criminal mischief in the fourth degree, petit larceny and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

He pleaded guilty before Justice Toni Cimino on November 14 to arson in the second degree in full satisfaction of the indictment and is expected by be sentenced on January 6, 2025, to 15 years in prison.

According to the charges and investigation, Person was seen on video surveillance at approximately 4 a.m. on July 4 in front of 105-20 Vansiclen Street lighting the bumper of a BMW sedan on fire causing the bumper to melt. The bumper of a Toyota RAV4 parked behind the BMW melted because of the fire to the first car.

Person was then seen on video at approximately 4:12 a.m. entering the driveway of a home on 132^nd Street in South Ozone Park. He was seen on video exiting the driveway at about 4:26 a.m.

Between those two times, a fire erupted in the basement laundry room of the home. All the home’s occupants, including two children, got out and an occupant of the home called 911 at about 4:32 a.m. to report the fire.

Two of the occupants were asleep in the basement at the time of the fire and were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., Person was seen on video entering a BMW on 132^nd Street and removing a backpack. He then set the trunk of the car on fire.

The defendant was arrested by FDNY marshals following an investigation and apprehension by the NYPD Warrant Squad.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Licciardello of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Whitney, Bureau Chief, Roni Piplani, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.