Man Set Fire Behind East Islip Bar After Being Kicked Out: DA

ISLIP TERRACE, NY — An Islip Terrace man is accused of returning to an East Islip bar with a gas can and lighter and setting a fire behind the business shortly after staff asked him to leave, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Paul Lucia, 60, was indicted on charges including Arson in the Second Degree for a November fire at Riley Fibbers Bar and Restaurant on East Main Street, Tierney said.

According to the investigation, Lucia was inside Riley Fibbers in the early evening hours of Nov. 20, 2025, when staff asked him to leave. Prosecutors said he left in a white Jeep Patriot.

Around 7:30 p.m., Lucia returned to the rear of the restaurant in the same Jeep, carrying a gas can and a lighter, Tierney said.

Surveillance video shows Lucia exiting the Jeep, walking to the back entrance, and pouring liquid from the gas can near the doorway, which was open and the building occupied by patrons and employees at the time, according to the DA’s office.

Moments later, flames erupted. Video then shows Lucia walking back toward the Jeep, throwing the gas can over a fence into a neighboring property, and driving away, Tierney said.

The fire damaged an exterior awning and the kitchen area at Riley Fibbers, prosecutors said.

A witness provided the license plate number of the Jeep, and detectives determined the plates had been reported stolen a week earlier, the DA said.

Arson Squad detectives recovered a gas can cap from a flowerpot outside the bar, and a gas can from the property next door where Lucia was seen discarding it, Tierney said.

A certified ignitable detection canine from the Suffolk County Fire Marshal’s Office indicated the presence of ignitables at several locations at the scene.

The next day, Suffolk County police located Lucia and the Jeep on Sunrise Highway and took him into custody. A lighter was recovered inside the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Lucia was arraigned Dec. 9, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz on the following charges, Tierney said: arson in the second degree, a class B violent felony; arson in the third Degree, a class C felony; and two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, class A misdemeanors.

Justice Horowitz ordered Lucia held on $100,000 cash bail, $250,000 bond, or $750,000 partially secured bond. He is due back in court Jan. 14, 2026, and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top charge, the DA said.

Lucia is represented by Michael Elbert, who did not comment was not immediately returned.

“Today, we announce the indictment of an individual charged with arson for allegedly setting fire
to a local bar after being asked to leave the premises,” Tierney said. “This act put lives at risk and caused significant damage to the establishment. We remain committed to pursuing justice and ensuring that such dangerous behavior is fully addressed under the law.”