Another vollie bites the dust

[TheTruthTeller]

Volunteer firefighter gets prison for murder

(04/09/10) WOODBURY (AP) - A volunteer firefighter has been sentenced to 25 years to life for setting a Long Island fire that killed a mother and three of her children.

Caleb Lacey was convicted of murder. He continued to insist Friday that he was not guilty.

Emotions ran high in the courtroom. Children who survived the fire were in the audience, crying.

The man who lost his wife and children also was there. He had recorded his statement, because he was too distraught to make it in court.

Lacey was convicted of four counts each of murder and manslaughter.

The Feb. 19, 2009 fire started in a stairwell leading to apartments in Lawrence, N.Y. Prosecutors said Lacey wanted to look like a hero by getting there first.

[dfgtr456311]

I heard that his biotch in prison is a former career / union guy

[Probabbbbllleee]

Yeah he was in the carpenters union. What a hammer head.

[000019]

I heard that his biotch in prison is a former career / union guy

Sorry , he was not FDNY. But he was a vollie !

[Unregisterednuff]

Ex-Bravest charged with arsonRetired firefighter busted for DWI in 2004 accused of torching vacant Annadale home Saturday, January 02, 2010
By JEFF HARRELL STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A retired Tottenville firefighter with a history of run-ins with the law was arrested this week for allegedly torching a vacant home in Annadale Monday night.
Glen Midbo, 51, of Sleight Avenue, was arraigned Thursday in Stapleton Criminal Court on charges linked to the blaze, which engulfed a two-story brick and frame house at 791 Annadale Rd.

According to court documents, an eyewitness told police Midbo "set fire" to the building before "exiting ... within minutes" after the blaze broke out at about 9:30 p.m.
"Clearly arson of this type is a dangerous and reckless crime which endangers the lives of first-responders and those residing in neighboring homes," said Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan. "At this point, Glen Midbo is only charged with this one incident and we will continue to work with the fire marshals to determine if he was involved in any other deliberately set fires."
Midbo's attorney, Mario Gallucci, disputed the unidentified witness's accusations and lashed out at investigators for basing Midbo's arrest on a single witness account.
"It's unfortunate that the agency charged with the responsibility of investigating crime on Staten Island yesterday refused to speak to or interview any of the witnesses that might have assisted them in their investigation," Gallucci said. "That, coupled with the fact that one of their witnesses was unable to identify my client, gives me serious doubt on the culpability of my client."
There were no injuries in the fire that gutted the Annadale home, which is owned by Steve Bakousius and Magdy Kheir, proprietors of the Annadale Diner next door.
Neighbors told the Advance tenants moved out awhile ago. The building has stood vacant for several weeks and is reportedly scheduled for demolition.
The Monday evening blaze was the second suspicious fire at a vacant Annadale home in recent days. Fire marshals also investigated a Christmas morning blaze that destroyed a house at 254 Edgegrove Ave.
That inferno incinerated the entire building and left only the front steps, a doorbell, railing and small section of siding before spreading next door to 260 Edgegrove Ave. and forcing a couple and their infant son out of their home. They were not injured.
Midbo's arrest this week is not the first time he's found himself in trouble with the law.
In 2005, he pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle stemming from drunken driving and related charges after he was spotted driving erratically on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in May 2004.
Midbo also was among the firefighters transferred out of Engine Co. 151/Ladder Co. 76 in Tottenville in the aftermath of a New Year's Eve 2003 brawl that saw then-Firefighter Michael Silvestri accused of bashing Firefighter Robert Walsh in the face with a metal chair during an alleged booze-fueled fracas. The case was settled for $3.75 million.
Midbo told the Advance he was not involved in that incident.
Midbo, represented by co-counsel Louis Gelormino at Thursday's arraignment, is charged with one count each of third-degree arson, second-degree criminal mischief and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He was released on $10,000 bail, set by Judge Alan J. Meyer, and is due back in court on Monday.
Jeff Harrell covers courts for the Advance. He may be reached at harrell@siadvance.com.

Nuff said.