Port Jervis man sentenced to prison for arson that damaged youth program property
GOSHEN - A Port Jervis man was sentenced to prison Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to arson that damaged property belonging to a youth program.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Steve Brewer, 39, of Port Jervis, was sentenced to two to six years in prison and ordered to pay $7,199.20 in restitution after pleading guilty to third-degree arson, a felony.
As alleged in statements made and documents filed in court, officers of the Port Jervis Police Department responded to a fire in Riverside Park on April 18, 2021.
The fire damaged a cargo container that was used to store bikes, helmets and other items belonging to the Port Jervis Youth Program.
Brewer, who had been seen near a garbage can that was separately on fire, told police when he initially spoke to them that two teenagers were responsible for the fire that damaged the cargo container.
He subsequently admitted to police that he set the fire himself. At his plea proceeding, Brewer admitted that he intentionally damaged the cargo container by setting the fire.
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When Brewer was first arrested in 2021, he was released without bail because the charges he faced were not bail eligible, Hoovler said. Brewer fled the state and went to Ohio, where he avoided apprehension for two years and had to be extradited.
"This defendant's actions constitute vandalism at its worst and most dangerous," Hoovler said in a statement. "The fires the defendant set caused thousands of dollars in damage to property used for children in the community. Again we see the real ramifications of bail reform play out with a needlessly protracted and costly process to locate and return a defendant intent on avoiding apprehension."
The name of Brewer's attorney was not immediately available.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Arson guilty plea brings prison sentence for Port Jervis man
