A father and son who ran a Queens print shop turned their business into a raging inferno because they were being evicted by their landlord — only to be done in by security footage from their store, federal prosecutors allege.
The feds arrested Narinder Singh, 56, and his son, Jawahar Singh, 29, on federal arson charges Thursday, accusing them of using paper towels and a hot plate to start the Feb. 18 blaze.
The Singhs, who both hail from Nassau County, have been embroiled in a state court fight with the owner of the 101st Ave. building for years, with the landlord referring to them and their business as “squatters” in filings. The city marshal’s office filed a notice of eviction Jan. 29.
That eviction was scheduled for Feb. 18, and when the Singhs lost an emergency appeal the day before, they decided to torch the place, the feds allege.
Video from about four hours before 12:30 a.m., when the fire started, shows the father and son, their faces visible, move a table with a hot plate and several rolls of paper towels on it, according to a criminal complaint.
Jawahar Singh then plugged a long, orange extension cord into a “smart plug,” which can be activated remotely, the feds allege. One of the paper towel rolls was positioned on the hot plate, and four more were placed nearby.
The father and son left, and a few hours later, video shows the paper towel roll on the hot plate catch fire, according to the complaint. The blaze spread quickly — FDNY officials said the fire went to a second alarm and spread to an adjoining building.
Forty-six FDNY units with a total of 141 firefighters responded to the South Richmond Hill blaze, which took more than an hour and a half to tame. No one was injured, according to the FDNY.
FDNY personnel recovered the smart plug, the extension cord and the hot plate, according to the criminal complaint.
The Singhs’ landlord, Jatinder Singh, no relation, said in a December 2023 state court affidavit that the lease on the building was “a phony and a fraud.”
“Naridner Singh and his company are squatters, pure and simple. We gave them no lease, nor did we give them oral permission to take the space. We never received any rent or other monies from this squatter, no matter what he calls himself. He/they have no right to possession,” the affidavit reads.
Jawahar Singh had also filed several lawsuits to stop the eviction, alleging in one that the landlord agreed to settle the matter for $8,000, then refused to honor the agreement, according to the criminal complaint.
Both men are expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court Thursday afternoon.