UPDATE: Former NJ volunteer at center of Sandy controversy not guilty of arson
UPDATE 3-17-07
A New Jersey firefighter who was linked in connection to a blaze at an abandoned auto body shop has been found not guilty.
Robert Campolongo, of Delanco, was acquitted earlier this month, more than two years after he was charged with arson.
More coverage of the jury’s not guilty verdict here.
PREVIOUSLY
More fire news from FireCritic.com
Previous coverage of Robert Campolongo
Some people can’t stay out of the news. Robert Campolongo seems to be one of them. Do you recall the story above? STATter911.com posted it in November, 2012 and it received a lot of comments. It was about a controversy in Burlington County, New Jersey in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The veteran Riverside Fire Company volunteer firefighter had been fired from his job as a driver for L&C Specialized Carriers for failing to show up for work during the storm.
The story had an interesting twist to it in that while Campolongo decided to fill his role during Sandy as one of the engineers capable of operating his department’s “special-needs boat with a flat bottom”, responding to dozens of rescues in Ocean County, his boss, Cliff Cini needed all hands on deck to get trucks moving to New York with generators and other emergency supplies.
Riverside Fire Company Capt. Robert Campolongo is again making news in Burlington County. He is charged with setting fire to a vacant body shop. Campolongo was arrested last week while driving on a suspended license.
Alex Sachdev, Burlington County Times:
A volunteer firefighter with the Riverside Fire Company has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to the former Mortland’s Auto Body Shop on North Pavilion Avenue on Aug. 17.
Capt. Robert Campolongo, 43, of Delanco, was taken into custody Wednesday evening and has been charged with second-degree arson, said Lt. Lou Fisher of the Riverside Police Department. He is held in Burlington County Jail on $100,000 bail.
Campolongo is accused of a fire that happened on Sunday, August 17th at the abandoned Mortlands Auto Body shop building on North Pavilion Avenue.
Investigators say they have surveillance footage from the area and statements from witnesses.
Police arrested 43-year-old Robert Campolongo, of Delanco, Thursday in connection with the Aug. 17 fire at Mortland’s Auto Body on the 400 block of North Pavilion Avenue in Riverside, Burlington County.
Authorities took Campolongo into custody Thursday after spotting him driving his vehicle despite having a suspended license, according to reports.
