Suspected arsonist, 26, burned down childhood home of New York state trooper over traffic tickets

A New York man was arrested and charged with arson this week for allegedly burning down a state trooper’s childhood home — all because of traffic tickets.

Tyler Williams, 26, was booked into the Orange County Jail Wednesday after allegedly lighting fire at the Warwick home owned by the state trooper’s father in an act of revenge, the Orange County prosecutor said , David Hoovler.

Williams was stopped by an unnamed police officer in Middletown on the evening of December 20 and issued several citations.

Early the next morning, the house where the police officer grew up and where his father still lives caught fire.

Her father and two others were in the house at the time, but were able to escape and were not injured, ABC7 reported.

“I’m so upset because we’ve been neighbors for 20 years and they’re great people,” resident Mildred Garcia told the local station. “It just saddened my heart.”

Investigators quickly determined the fire had been set intentionally.

A five-month investigation by multiple agencies followed — during which more than 20 search warrants were issued, Hoovler said.

The investigation revealed that Williams, of Middletown, searched online for personal information about the officer who gave him the tickets, including his current address, just hours after he was stopped — and before the house fire, according to the prosecutor.

Williams found the officer’s father’s house during his search and allegedly raised hell there – perhaps believing it to be the officer’s current address – as an act of revenge for the violations of the Traffic Laws.

He has been charged with second-degree arson and is being held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on May 21.

The New York State Police commander of the trooper involved said Williams’ arrest should illustrate how law enforcement “will stop at nothing to hold dangerous criminals who endanger the lives of others responsible for their actions.

“We will not tolerate this type of reprehensible behavior in which a member of law enforcement was targeted simply in the line of duty,” Commander Michael Sumnick said in a statement.

It is unclear how many tickets Williams received or for what violations and fines.

“It’s incomprehensible to think that a traffic ticket could put our families and our homes in this kind of danger,” Warwick Police Chief John Rader told ABC7.