Bar Patron Pleads Guilty to Arson After Bizarre Incident

A patron at a Long Island bar has admitted to setting the establishment on fire after being ejected for taking an unsolicited photo of a staff member, according to authorities.

Paul Lucia, 60, from Islip, entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to arson along with several other charges stemming from the intentional fire he started at Riley Fibbers Pub & Restaurant in East Islip last November, as announced by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

On the evening of November 20, 2025, Lucia was at the bar when he snapped a picture of one of the workers, prosecutors reported.

After staff members confronted him about the photo and asked him to leave, Lucia became “irate” and drove away in a white Jeep, as per the officials’ statements.

Surveillance footage later showed Lucia returning to the pub with a gas can and a lighter about two hours later. He then poured the accelerant behind the restaurant while it was still occupied by employees and customers.

Shortly after, flames erupted, and Lucia discarded the gas can over a fence into a neighboring property before escaping in his vehicle.

The fire damaged the bar’s outside awning and kitchen area, thankfully without causing injuries. Detectives found a cap from the gas can in a flowerpot outside the bar and the can itself on the adjacent property.

The following day, Suffolk County police arrested Lucia on Sunrise Highway while he was still driving the same white Jeep, discovering the lighter used in the fire inside the vehicle.

Lucia pleaded guilty to multiple counts of arson including second-degree and third-degree arson, as well as two counts of fifth-degree criminal arson, according to prosecutors.

District Attorney Tierney commented on the case, saying, “The defendant admitted to intentionally setting fire to a local business, risking the lives of staff and patrons inside. Violent crimes such as this will never be tolerated. The prison term he now faces holds the defendant accountable for what could have easily turned into an enormous tragedy.”

Lucia is scheduled to return to court on November 12, where he could face up to a decade in prison along with five years of post-release supervision.