Crime & Safety
Mineola Man Charged With Arson In Portuguese Heritage Society Fire
Police say the man who set fire to the basement of the group's building was also arrested for placing tire spikes at police stations.
MINEOLA, NY — Nassau police arrested a Mineola man and charged him with arson in a summer fire at the Portuguese Heritage Society in Mineola.
Manuel Reis, 59, set a July 10 fire in the building's Willis Avenue basement by pouring a flammable substance through a window and igniting it, police said.
The Garden City Fire Department extinguished the fire and no one was hurt. The Nassau Arson Bomb Squad arrested Reis after an investigation, and he appeared in court Saturday.
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Reis was also arrested July 14, days after the fire, on a criminal mischief charge, police said. They reported in July that he laid tire spikes across the road near several Nassau County Police Department facilities multiple times between May and July.
The spikes damaged police vehicles and an employee's personal car, police said. Reis was released on probation.
Find out what's happening in Mineolafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He now faces charges of third-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief.
The Portuguese Heritage Society, also called Lusitano, is a national Portuguese-culture organization headquartered at 133 Willis Ave. in Mineola. Police did not give any possible motives for the crime.
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