Paul Lucia, 60, of Islip, pleaded guilty to multiple arson charges on Tuesday for torching a Long Island pub where staff had ejected him hours earlier.
The guilty plea in Suffolk County covers the November 20, fire at Riley Fibbers Pub & Restaurant in East Islip, where Lucia had been drinking before the deadly escalation. Prosecutors said the Islip man snapped an unsolicited photo of a staff member that evening, prompting workers to remove him from the casual neighborhood spot.
Lucia became “irate” after the boot, officials said. He drove off in a white Jeep with plates that had been reported stolen just one week before.
Roughly two hours later, surveillance cameras captured him returning with a gas can and a lighter. The footage showed Lucia dumping accelerant behind the still-occupied restaurant, where staff and patrons remained inside. Moments after flames erupted, he tossed the empty gas can over a fence onto neighboring property and sped away in the same Jeep.
The fire damaged an outside awning and the kitchen area at Riley Fibbers. No injuries were reported among those inside during the blaze.
Detectives recovered critical evidence in the hours that followed. They found a cap from the gas can in a flowerpot outside the bar, and the can itself on the adjacent property. The next day, Suffolk County police arrested Lucia as he drove down Sunrise Highway in the white Jeep. Officers also discovered the lighter used in the arson inside the vehicle.
Lucia’s plea encompassed second-degree arson, third-degree arson, and two counts of fifth-degree criminal arson, the district attorney’s office announced.
“The defendant admitted to intentionally setting fire to a local business, risking the lives of staff and patrons inside,” District Attorney Tierney said in a statement.
Tierney continued, “Violent crimes such as this will never be tolerated. The prison term he now faces holds the defendant accountable for what could have easily turned into an enormous tragedy.”
The case originated in a single creepy act that bar workers refused to let stand. When they confronted Lucia about the unsolicited photo and told him to leave, they could not have predicted the scale of retaliation that would follow. His two-hour cooling-off period did nothing to diminish the rage; instead, he gathered materials and returned to endanger dozens of lives over a ejection he believed he could answer with flames.
Lucia is slated to return to court on Nov. 12, where he faces up to 10 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.