Melissa Bailey Photo
Reyes’ complex built on the ashes of 42 Lombard.
In Angelo Reyes’ campaign to redevelop Fair Haven, one house stood in the way. Reyes bought the home, insured it, and hired someone to burn it down — all within a week.
That’s the story recounted in an indictment released Tuesday bearing new charges against the Fair Haven developer.
A federal grand jury sitting in New Haven returned an indictment late Monday charging Reyes with more offenses connected to the 2009 arson of the People’s Laundromat, as well as new charges in a second arson in 2005 at 42 Lombard St., the U.S. Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
Click here to read the indictment.
Paul Bass File Photo
Reyes.
Reyes (pictured), who’s 45, is free on bond after his siblings put up their houses as collateral. Reached on his cell phone Tuesday, he declined comment on the jury’s conclusions.
“I just read about it,” Reyes said. “You’ve got to reach out to my lawyer.”
His court-appointed lawyer, Richard Cramer, could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.
In court, federal prosecutor Stephen Reynolds has accused Reyes of setting “at least 12” fires to properties across Fair Haven.
The former site of the People’s Laudromat at 83 Lombard.
In December, a grand jury charged Reyes with hiring a father-son pair to set fire to his laundromat at 83 Lombard St. in order to recoup insurance money.
A house that used to stand at 42 Lombard is the second Fair Haven property which Reyes has been charged with torching.
Reyes spent the last decade turning his life around from jailed drug dealer to Fair Haven’s leading rebuilder of homes and commercial property, a civic leader promoting rebirth of the neighborhood’s main commercial corridor. He has renovated and sold 80 homes to working people in Fair Haven. He opened two successful laundromats, the first of which was People’s. He’s in the process of reviving storefronts and offices on Grand Avenue.
In releasing him, a federal judge instructed Reyes to keep working above board while he grapples with the criminal charges as well as other state charges and a bankruptcy suit.
“Burned And Cleared”
The latest charges stem from an alleged arson on the last block of Lombard Street, where a hill gives way to sunny views of the Quinnipiac River.
Here’s what happened at 42 Lombard, according to the indictment:
Reyes first bought the building on Jan. 27, 2000 for $42,000. At the time, it was a single-family home. He sold it to two other people about seven months later. Then, in February 2005, he ordered an appraisal on the property, which came in at $200,000.
In March, Reyes reached out to Osvaldo Segui, aka “Baldo” or “Bardo,” a tenant in one of his many Fair Haven properties. Segui has already pleaded guilty to burning down Reyes’ laundromat in 2009 just a block away.
According to the indictment, Segui was already working for Reyes four years before that: Reyes instructed Segui to set fire to 42 Lombard, too.
Reyes “told Segui that he wanted the property burned because he planned to build a multi-family complex at the location,” according to the indictment. The house needed to be “burned and cleared” to make way for the new development.
The next string of events all happened within a week.
Reyes bought the property on March 17, 2005 for $185,000. On March 18, he took out a mortgage on the property — and an insurance policy that included $200,000 for the building, $300,000 in personal liability and $1 million per person in medical coverage.
On March 24, just a week after Reyes bought the home, flames erupted at 42 Lombard.
“The fire was so intense that it resulted in multiple fire department alarms and caused significant damage to a neighboring property,” according to the indictment.
According to the indictment, Segui bought gasoline to start the fire, then hired an unnamed second person to set the flame. The second person, referred to as Individual A, expressed concern about torching the building because it appeared there were people living there. Segui assured Individual A that the tenants had moved out.
“Individual A then poured gas through the interior of the residence and lit the fire,” the indictment claims.
After the fire, Reyes gave money for the arson to Segui, who passed along the money to Individual A.
“URGENT”
On the same day as the fire, Reyes faxed a note to his insurance agency, Mount Vernon Fire Insurance Co.
“URGENT,” the fax read. “Fire loss — house caught fire; cause unknown at this time.”
Reyes later won a $154,000 claim from the insurance company for the house, which the city condemned.
He took out a construction loan and redeveloped the property into a six-family home. He sold it on March 30, 2007 for $515,000, according to the indictment.
For allegedly conspiring to burn down the building, then defrauding the insurance company through a faxed property loss claim, Reyes is charged with wire fraud. He is also charged with use of fire to commit a federal felony. That’s because he knowingly used the fire to commit the wire fraud, according to the indictment.
The six-family complex (pictured here and at the top of this story) stands on the street today. It remains unfinished in parts, with bare wood showing under the eaves, but looks otherwise quite presentable. The six units appear to be occupied, equipped with a trampoline in the driveway and a backyard grill.
Jim Raper, who’s 77, looked out at the property from his porch Tuesday afternoon. He recalled the night the fire destroyed the previous building.
“It took a them a while to put that up,” he said of the new six-family development.
He said the complex has added to a general beautification of the street he’s lived on for 38 years.
“It has improved a lot, this block,” Raper said. Next to 42 Lombard, the Housing Authority of New Haven built eight owner-occupied homes as part of the Quinnipiac Terrace development.
People’s
The former People’s Laundromat (foreground) and Q Terrace (background).
On the next block, however, the rubble of the burned-down People’s Laundromat leaves a scar on a bright strip of new homes.
Reyes was previously charged with one count of destruction by fire of property used in interstate commerce, and one count of conspiracy to destroy such property.
On Monday, the grand jury added two charges for that alleged arson at 83 Lombard St.
Reyes is now charged with wire fraud and use of fire to commit a federal felony for that property. The charges relate to an insurance claim Reyes sent for the laundromat. Noting the suspicious circumstances, the insurers never paid Reyes.
An indictment is not evidence of guilt, said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein in a press release Tuesday. “Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
If convicted of all the charges, Reyes faces a minimum sentence of 7 years in prison for the arson and arson conspiracy charges, plus 10 years for each count of use of fire to commit a federal felony, according to Tom Carson, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office.
An arraignment has not yet been scheduled, according to Carson.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Connecticut State Police, the New Haven Police Department, the New Haven Fire Department and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
The investigation into the suspected arsons is ongoing, Fein said. He urged anyone with relevant info to call the FBI at (203) 777‑6311.