U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that Jermaine Fields, 38, from Rochester, New York, has been sentenced to five years in prison for arson. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Moynihan, who managed the case, detailed that on April 17, 2024, the Rochester Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at the Abundance Co-Op Market on South Avenue in Rochester. Upon arrival, firefighters detected a burning rubber smell in the men's bathroom but found no visible flames. Burned debris and burn patterns were noted on the floor and wall behind the toilet.
Security footage identified Fields as entering and exiting the bathroom shortly before the store's fire alarm activated. Fields was arrested days later and charged with arson. He also confessed to igniting papers in a stairwell at the Hall of Justice on Exchange Boulevard in Rochester on April 5, 2024.
The investigation involved collaboration between the Rochester Fire Department led by Chief Stefano Napolitano, the Rochester Police Department under Chief David Smith's direction, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives headed by Special Agent-in-Charge Bryan Miller of the New York Field Division.
