Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced that the Honorable Siobhan Teare, Judge of the Superior Court, has sentenced Yusuf Abdullah, 41, of Newark to 7 years in state prison for second degree aggravated arson.
On April 28, 2014, Abdullah, also known as Yusuf Camp, plead guilty to the charges, admitting that he purposely set his clothes on fire in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment building at 207 North Walnut Street, East Orange, causing damage to six apartments in that section of the building.
At the time of the fire, numerous apartments were occupied. Residents were rescued by the East Orange Fire Department from fire escapes and apartment windows because the fire had blocked their means of egress from the building, according to Assistant Prosecutor Jason Hollingsworth who handled the case.
Abdullah, who has five prior convictions, is required to serve 85 percent of his sentence under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act before becoming eligible for parole.
“This was a case where multiple lives could have been senselessly lost,” Hollingsworth said. “Thankfully, all of the victims were successfully rescued due to the skill and immediate response of the East Orange Fire Department.”
