By Kenneth C. Crowe II
The Times Union
TROY, N.Y. — Three suspects in the apartment building fire at 520 Second Ave. that killed an elderly woman are in North Carolina jails after their arrests as fugitives from justice, city police said Friday.
Abby Slaga, 21, and David Stanley, 22, both formerly of East Greenbush, and Tyler Smith, 24, formerly of Castleton, face a charge of first-degree arson when they return to Troy, police Chief John Tedesco said.
Grace Halpin, 82, had a heart attack during the fire but firefighters were able to revive her and send her to the hospital during the May 1 blaze. She died May 23 at Bay State General Hospital in Massachusetts where she was in a rehabilitation center.
Stanley has waived extradition and will return to Troy, according to the Wake County District Attorney’s Office in North Carolina. He was arrested Thursday by the Raleigh Police Department and sent to the Wake County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Slaga and Smith were arrested Friday and are to appear in local North Carolina courts Monday. Slaga is being held without bail in the Franklin County Jail.
Smith is in the Wake County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Smith had been out of state prison for just a week before he allegedly took part in setting the fatal fire, according to authorities and state inmate records. Smith had been in prison for attempted burglary in Rensselaer County.
The three suspects had fled to a relative’s home, officials said.
Officials said all three were friends and Slaga was involved in a romantic relationship with one of the men, but they did not specify which one.
Detective Colleen Goldston and Detective Sgts. Ronald Epstein and Michael Parrow went to North Carolina to assist in the arrests.
Tedesco and Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove said other charges are pending as they await test results from Halpin’s autopsy. The investigation remains open and no one else is expected to be charged.
Officials declined to describe the origins of the fire, which was set outside a second-floor apartment door.
Officials did not give a possible motive for the arson.
A video from the night of the fire appeared to show three people fleeing the building at 520 Second Ave., one in flames. Officials had no comment on injuries the suspects may have received or whether they were treated for burns at a hospital outside the Capital Region. They said they have not yet tied them to the three people shown in the video.
The fire spread from 520 Second Ave. to encompass 518 Second Ave. next door. Both buildings are now boarded up after suffering severe damage.
Abelove, Tedesco, Capt. Richard Sprague, the head of the detective squad, and Mayor Lou Rosamilia announced the arrests at an early afternoon press conference at police heaquarters.
The case is not tied to 13 prior arsons in Lansingburgh under investigation by the city’s Arson Task force, officials said.
Sprague said the task force has not seen a new fire that follows the circumstances of being set in early morning hours at the rear of a vacant building since mid-February.
The task force has questioned several suspects and deployed undercover surveillance teams as part of its ongoing investigation, Sprague said.
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