Long Island Bar Patron Admits Setting Restaurant on Fire After Being Kicked Out Over Photo of Employee

A 60-year-old Long Island man has pleaded guilty to deliberately setting fire to a neighborhood pub after staff members asked him to leave over an unwanted photograph he took of an employee. The blaze damaged part of the restaurant while workers and customers were still inside, raising the frightening possibility that a dispute inside a local bar could have turned into a deadly disaster.

Paul Lucia, of Islip Terrace, New York, admitted to setting fire to Riley Fibbers Pub & Restaurant in East Islip on November 20, 2025. According to Suffolk County prosecutors, Lucia had been at the establishment around 5:30 p.m. when employees confronted him after he took a photograph of a staff member. They asked him to leave, and he drove away in a white Jeep Patriot.

But authorities say the confrontation did not end there. Approximately two hours later, Lucia allegedly returned to the pub carrying a gas can and a lighter. Surveillance footage showed him getting out of his vehicle and pouring a flammable liquid near the restaurant’s rear entrance, prosecutors said. The entrance was open, and employees and patrons were still inside the building.

Moments later, flames broke out at the establishment. As the fire took hold, Lucia allegedly walked back to his Jeep, threw the gas can over a fence onto neighboring property and drove away. The fire damaged the restaurant’s exterior awning and kitchen. Fortunately, authorities reported that no one was injured, although the presence of people inside the building made the incident particularly dangerous.

Investigators worked to identify the person responsible by examining surveillance footage and gathering physical evidence. A witness reportedly provided police with the Jeep’s license plate number, and detectives later discovered that the plates had been reported stolen about a week before the fire. Investigators also recovered the gas can’s cap from a flowerpot outside the pub and found the can on the neighboring property where it had allegedly been thrown.

The investigation continued into the following day, when Suffolk County police officers spotted Lucia driving the white Jeep along Sunrise Highway and pulled him over. Authorities said a lighter connected to the arson was recovered from inside the vehicle. Investigators also used a specially trained detection dog from the Suffolk County Fire Marshal’s Office, which indicated the presence of ignitable liquids in several areas around the scene.

On October 13, 2026, Lucia pleaded guilty before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz to second-degree arson, third-degree arson and two counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said the case involved an intentional attack on a local business that put the lives of employees and customers at risk. He emphasized that the consequences could have been far more severe had anyone been trapped or injured by the fire.

Lucia is scheduled to return to court on November 13 for sentencing. He faces up to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. While the damage to Riley Fibbers was limited to parts of the building and no injuries were reported, the case underscores how quickly an angry confrontation can escalate into a serious criminal act—with consequences extending far beyond the original dispute.

Source: New York Post