They Set Stolen Car On Fire In Rochelle Park, And One Was Caught At JFK Airport: Prosecutor

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

Two New York men have been charged in connection with a stolen vehicle fire that lit up a Rochelle Park parking lot last winter, authorities said.

Ethan Olivo, 19, and Starlin Siri, 21, both of the Bronx, were charged in the Dec. 3, 2024, blaze that consumed a 2020 Honda Accord on Rochelle Avenue just after 7 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a Thursday, Aug. 7 release.

The car was found fully engulfed in flames by Rochelle Park firefighters, who extinguished the fire and contacted police, Musella said. Officers from Rochelle Park and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Squad, working with the Arson Task Force, began a months-long investigation that ultimately identified Olivo and Siri as the suspects.

Authorities say the duo were in possession of the stolen Honda when they intentionally set it on fire by throwing a road flare into the passenger compartment.

Arrest warrants were issued June 12. The charges are:

• Second-degree aggravated arson
• Third-degree arson
• Third-degree receiving stolen property (motor vehicle)
• Third-degree criminal mischief
• Fourth-degree failure to take responsible measure to extinguish a fire
• Fourth-degree conspiracy to commit arson

With help from the NYPD, Port Authority Police, and Customs and Border Protection, Olivo was taken into custody at JFK Airport on June 25. He remains in New York pending extradition.

Siri was found and arrested in Yorktown, NY on July 10, and extradited to Bergen County on Monday, Aug. 4. He remains at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack pending a detention hearing.