A Fair Haven Volunteer firefighter was arrested yesterday and charged with setting a fire to a storage shed Friday afternoon on the property of a borough church, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
The Fair Haven Volunteer Fire Department responded on Friday, April 1, 2016, around 4:28 p.m., to a report of a fire at the United Methodist Church located at 300 Ridge Rd. Upon arrival on scene, the fire was located in the exterior rear of a shed located on church property. The shed belongs to a local Boy Scout troop and contains property and supplies for that organization. Responding firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, which was contained to the exterior of the shed.
A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Fair Haven Police Department resulted in the arrest of Nicholas Joyce, 19 of Fair Haven, for setting fire to the structure. Based upon the investigation it was further learned that Joyce, a member of the responding Fair Haven Fire Department and a former Boy Scout, had set the fire prior to returning to the firehouse. Once back at the firehouse, he responded with other firefighters to the shed fire, which he had just set.
Joyce was charged with one count of second degree aggravated arson. Joyce was released from custody after posting $5,000 bail with a 10 percent option, as set by Municipal Court Judge James Berube.
If convicted of aggravated arson, Joyce faces up to ten years in a New Jersey State Prison, subject to the No Early Release Act (N.E.R.A.), requiring he serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.