BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ARSON

Set Fire Outside Ex-Girlfriend’s Apartment Door, Threatening Lives of NYCHA Building Residents  

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that a Bronx man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree Arson for setting a rubbish fire in a hallway of the Mill Brook Houses. 

District Attorney Clark said, “After an argument with the victim the day before, the defendant piled garbage in front of her apartment door and lit it on fire. In his desire to do harm to the victim, he also placed everyone in the building in jeopardy. Fortunately, no one was injured. The defendant has been held accountable for his reckless actions.” 

District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Austin Evans, 58, of the Bronx, was sentenced on October 1, 2025, by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Verena C. Powell to 15 years in prison and five years post release supervision for second-degree Arson. He was found guilty of that charge on February 11, 2025. 

According to the facts at trial, on February 5, 2021, at approximately 8:34 p.m., in building on East 137th Street in the NYCHA Mill Brook Houses in Mott Haven, the defendant set a rubbish fire in front of a 41-year-old woman’s apartment door on the 15th floor, trapping her inside with no fire escape. The victim and the defendant had a relationship that was deteriorating. Neighbors assisted in extinguishing the fire. The defendant was apprehended by police while attempting to flee the scene with a bottle of butane sticking out of his jacket pocket.

District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Pedro Silverio of the 48 Detective Squad and Fire Marshall Enrico Stassi of FDNY for their work on the case.