Five Charged in Englewood Arson

Englewood police this week charged three teens and two men in connection with an arson that destroyed a vacant Slocum Avenue house and brought a response from several area fire departments, authorities said. 

Firefighters and police were called to the four-alarm blaze around 1 a.m. April 9 and found the building engulfed in flames, Police Chief Arthur O'Keefe said. Investigators had few leads in the case, but a break came in July when city detectives working another investigation turned up information leading to the charges. 

City police and investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office Arson Task Force spread out Wednesday and Thursday to make the arrests. 

The man who started the blaze, 21-year-old Edwin Roman Jr., of Englewood, was charged with burglary, failure to report or control a fire and aggravated arson, O'Keefe said. He was being held at the Bergen County Jail on $100,000 bail, with no ten percent option. 

David Rodriguez, 20, of Englewood, was charged with criminal trespass, police said. All three teens were charged with criminal trespass, while one was also charged with failure to report or control a fire. 

O'Keefe said police have been faced with a range of crime associated with vacant properties in the city. 

Several firefighters were treated for minor injuries. Fire departments from towns including Teaneck, Tenafly and Bergenfield responded to the blaze.