Man Set 3 Police Cars On Fire With Gas Pumps Nearby, Bergen County Prosecutor Says

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Bergen County man was charged with arson on Wednesday after three Hackensack police cars were burned in a "suspicious fire" Saturday night, prosecutors said.

Jaime Magnelli Sr., 78, of Hackensack, was also charged with aggravated arson, risk of widespread injury or damage, failure to control or report a fire, and criminal mischief, said the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

After 8 p.m. on Saturday, the Hackensack police and fire departments headed to Hackensack Municipal Parking Lot Area T on Trinity Place, adjacent
to the Bergen County Islamic Center, where several Hackensack police cars were on fire.

Parking Lot T is used as an overflow parking area for city police vehicles.

Three police cars were burning when first responders arrived, prosecutors said.

An investigation determined that Magnelli "approached three parked, unoccupied police vehicles and intentionally set them on fire by igniting an accelerant he poured onto each vehicle before fleeing the scene," prosecutors said.

Detectives determined that while no injuries were reported, the city vehicles were in close proximity to the Hackensack municipal gas pumps and an
occupied place of worship when the fires were set.

Magnelli was taken to the Bergen County Jail to await his first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack.