Steve Lieberman
A 55-year-old man recently accused of burglarizing a tenant’s apartment has been arrested again — this time on charges of setting fire to the tenant’s car, Ramapo police said Monday.
Police found the 2006 Hyundai engulfed in flames Sunday night in the driveway of Joseph Casablanca’s house at 29 Ellington Way, Ramapo Police Sgt. Brian Corbett said. Hillcrest Fire Department volunteer firefighters put out the flames.
The woman’s car was parked in the driveway when it was set on fire. The Rockland Sheriff’s Office fire unit assisted the police with the investigation, which ended with Casablanca’s arrest on felony charges of second-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree arson.
Casablanca was being held in the Ramapo police lockup Monday pending arraignment in Town Court.
Casablanca had earlier run afoul of the law on Sept. 30 when officers said he was caught trying to escape his tenant’s apartment with a plastic bag full of her things.
The woman and her boyfriend told police they returned home at 10 p.m. to find a man burglarizing the apartment.. The boyfriend tackled and subdued Casablanca, police said.
Police charged Casablanca in that case with second-degree burglary, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
According to state records, Casablanca served more than three years in prison after he was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, in a case involving a 9-year-old boy and was paroled in 2003. His name is not listed on the state sex offender registry.
Source: lohud
