Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 53-year-old Gerald May of Lake View has been sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to the maximum one and one-third to four years in prison for starting a fire that spread to a neighbor’s home. 

In December 2016, May pleaded guilty to Arson in the Fourth Degree, which is intentionally starting a fire which recklessly damages a building. 

On April 18, 2016, when May lived in Hamburg, he started trash on fire in his driveway which was next to his neighbor’s attached garage. The fire spread to a wooden fence and the eaves of the neighbor’s garage, severely burning its walls and roof.  The rest of the neighbor’s house filled with smoke, and the residents, 33-year-old Kerrie Aquino and her elderly father, Vincent Aquino, who required a wheelchair, had to escape. 

The fire caused $7,575 in damage to the Aquinos’ home, and they had to move out while the house was repaired. 

DA Flynn commends Hamburg Officer Jason Nappo and Hamburg Detectives Vincent Pupo, Jr. and Paul Randall for their thorough investigative work. 

Felony Trials Bureau Chief Paul J. Glascott prosecuted the case.