Roman Amatitla, 38, of Calamus Avenue, was arraigned Tuesday on a 37-count indictment charging him with four counts of murder in the first degree, 12 counts of murder in the second degree, five counts of arson in the first degree and other related crimes. Amatitla was remanded into custody without bail and faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Witnesses reported that Rinderknecht had been driving erratically while on Uber routes around the Palisades on New Year's Eve, describing him as 'angry, intense, driving erratically, and ranting about being 'pissed off at the world.''
Michael Kavanagh has been promoted to Chief Fire Marshal for the FDNY, putting him in charge of the Bureau of Fire Investigation, which handles complex fire investigations and arson prosecutions.
Ali Vahedi, a volunteer from the Miga Rally community group, stated, 'We started security here three months ago because we did not feel safe. Last week a drone was here, people come and throw things like tomatoes and now last night, after this fire happened, it is getting more dangerous.'
This was a significant fire in which a large number of people had to be evacuated. Thankfully no one was injured and staff at the venue worked quickly and effectively to safely evacuate everyone.
Durham Region police reported that the 23-year-old man was arrested while allegedly setting another residential fire, despite being on probation and barred from incendiary devices.
