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Target Employees Start Fire, Steal TVs, Get Arrested
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
Share
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An employee at the Target in East New York is accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to set fire to the store as a diversion while they stole $8,000 worth of flat-screen televisions. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling surveillance cameras! The FDNY says video depicts Jared Devonis, who was fired from Target two weeks ago, using a lighter to start a fire in the paper towel aisle.
Sources tell the Daily News that Devonis's girlfriend, one Nefatarah Meyer-Dierrks, escorted him into the storage area at 9 p.m. Friday, where he remained hidden until about 2 a.m., when the only employees in the store were the cleaners and restocking crews. As the fire drove them out the front door, he allegedly rolled a shopping cart loaded with eight televisions out the back and drove off.
Firefighters quickly put out the small blaze, which caused $100,000 in damage. After viewing the surveillance footage, investigators arrested the couple at their apartment the next day, but by that time Devonis had already sold four of the TVs! Now that's what we call a fire sale.
Tagged
arrest
arson
east new york
fire
nyc
target
tv
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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