Paul Luccia pleads guilty to arson fire at Riley Fibbers Pub and Grill in East Islip

An Islip Terrace man faces 10 years in prison after pleading guilty this week to second-degree arson after authorities said he’d set fire to a Suffolk County bar because he’d been asked to leave the premises by staff members.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Paul Lucia, 60, entered the plea on Tuesday to charges of setting fire to Riley Fibbers Pub and Grill on Nov. 20.

Trial evidence showed he had been asked to leave the bar about 5:30 p.m. Lucia returned two hours later with "a gas can and a lighter" — video surveillance showing him exit a white Jeep Patriot, then dumping gas near the rear entrance to the bar. Shortly after, the district attorney’s office said, flames erupted on the premises while Lucia walked back to the Jeep, tossed the gas can over a fence and drove away.

The district attorney’s office said the bar "incurred fire damage to an exterior awning and the kitchen."

The bar was occupied by patrons and staff at the time, though no one was hurt. officials said.

Prosecutors said a witness provided police with a license plate number for the Jeep. Those plates had been reported stolen a week before the arson, an investigation found.

Suffolk County police Arson Squad investigators recovered the gas can cap from a flowerpot outside the bar and the gas can from the adjacent property. A specially trained county fire marshal’s office canine also "indicated the presence of ignitable liquids" in several locations at the scene, prosecutors said.

Lucia was arrested during a traffic stop in the Jeep a day after the fire. The lighter used in the arson was recovered from the SUV, police and prosecutors said.

On Tuesday, Lucia pleaded guilty before acting State Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz to second-degree and third-degree arson, as well as to two counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

He is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 13, when he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison with 5 years of post-release supervision.

In a statement Wednesday, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said: "The defendant admitted to intentionally setting fire to a local business, risking the lives of staff and patrons inside. Violent crimes such as this will never be tolerated. The prison term he now faces holds the defendant accountable for what could have easily turned into an enormous tragedy."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.