02.09.07 - Teen Charged
in Blue Point Arson
teen faces 25 years in prison after being indicted yesterday
for allegedly using a discarded Christmas tree to torch
a Blue Point home while a family slept inside.
The four-count indictment against Michael Eisenberg in Suffolk
County Court in Riverhead charges the 17-year-old from Blue
Point with setting fire to the home at 78 Namkee Road the
night of Jan.13.
The most serious charge - second-degree arson - carries
a maximum prison sentence of five to 25 years, prosecutors
said.
According to the indictment, Eisenberg moved the dried-out
Christmas tree from the curb to the home's front porch and
put a match to it, knowing there was "a reasonable
possibility" people could be inside.
Several hours after the blaze, the home's owner told the
Daily News that he had fallen asleep on a first-floor couch
and was therefore "immediately" awakened by what
"sounded almost like an explosion."
He said he hurried his wife and children out the back door,
then ran around to the front, filled garbage cans with water
from a spigot and extinguished the flames before they reached
the eaves of the roof.
Eisenberg pleaded not guilty before Judge James Doyle,
who set bail at $200,000 cash and ordered him back to court
on March 19.
Eisenberg's attorney, Joe Conway of Mineola, asserted that
"several other individuals" were involved.
Bob Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney
Thomas Spota, said there are multiple witnesses to Eisenberg's
allegedly criminal act, but said there is "no evidence
that they broke the law."
He said the individuals, who had been "driving around"
with Eisenberg the night of the incident, have not been
identified because they are "cooperating in the investigation."
Also indicted yesterday on arson charges in an unrelated
case was 69-year-old Alfredo Bartos of Lindenhurst, who
faces up to 15 years in prison for allegedly torching a
Lindenhurst boat shop where he had recently worked.
Prosecutor Peter Timmons said that on Jan. 28, Bartos doused
Kydd's Marine Center with gasoline and set fire to the boatyard
"in retaliation" for being canned around the holidays
last year. The blaze gutted the dockside boat shop, destroying
15 boats and causing about $2 million in damages, Timmons
said.
The prosecution's case against Bartos - an unemployed Argentine
national who overstayed a work visa that expired in 2001
- is bolstered by witnesses who place him "at the scene
moments before the fire," Timmons said.
Bartos pleaded not guilty to third-degree arson charges
and is being held in lieu of $200,000 cash bail.
- John Lauinger:New
York Daily News Staff Writer
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