44.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Attempted murder charge in house fire
Man, 21, is also accused of arson in firebombing of ex-girlfriend’s residence
The 21-year-old man who was charged with firebombing his former girlfriend’s Baldwin house last week was remanded to jail Monday by a Nassau County Court judge.
Joseph Ferrufino, of Baldwin, was arraigned on charges of attempted murder and arson.
Nassau County police arrested Ferrufino in connection with the 6 a.m. attack on Nov. 24 at 2604 Harrison Ave., Detective Lt. Richard LeBrun said. Police allege that Ferrufino threw an incendiary device known as a Molotov cocktail into a second-story window of the house, and set a car parked in the driveway on fire. Two people inside the house sustained minor injuries.
The attack on the house was the second in a week. LeBrun said that a similar attempt with a Molotov cocktail was made on Nov. 17, but was unsuccessful. After that incident, and an unsuccessful search for the would-be arsonist, police installed a CAPER alarm in the house, an electronic device that sends out an immediate call to 911 in an emergency. CAPER is an acronym for Criminal Apprehension Produced by Electronic Resource.
On the morning of Nov. 24, LeBrun said, police responded to the Harrison Avenue address, just down the street from 1st Precinct headquarters, when the alarm sounded. They found a 2015 Mercedes Benz engulfed in flames in the driveway.
“The defendant poured a flammable liquid onto the vehicle” and ignited it, LeBrun said. Police also discovered that a second-floor bedroom window had been broken by a lighted Molotov cocktail and the house was burning.
A man was seen running north on Harrison Avenue. The homeowner, whom LeBrun did not identify, followed the man but could not catch him. The homeowner identified the man as Ferrufino, his daughter’s former boyfriend, LeBrun said.
Police found Ferrufino at Grand and Stanton avenues and chased him on foot, finally arresting him on Grand, just south of West Carl Avenue.
LeBrun said the attack came after Ferrufino, who lives on Anna Place, and the girlfriend had broken up. The pair had dated from 2011 to 2013, he said, but had only limited contact in the past two years. No order of protection had been filed against Ferrufino.
