By Robert Gavin
The Times Union
ALBANY, N.Y. — A man who torched a six-unit apartment building in Cohoes last fall — then watched it burn as residents feared for their lives — was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday.
Edward Glass, 32, was angry because a relative had just yelled at him whereupon he ignited the potentially deadly blaze at 200-204 Remsen St. in the city’s downtown heart. He lit fire to a paper cup on a chair in the building’s vestibule. When the chair did not catch fire, Glass added a napkin to get the flame started, prosecutors said.
The fire quickly spread from the chair through the building, which suffered damage throughout. Glass remained at the fire scene for at least 10 minutes after lighting the fire, watching it burn but not rendering any aid, prosecutors said. All residents got out safely.
A man who lived in the building asked for the maximum in a victim impact statement read to Albany County Judge Peter Lynch by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Fowler.
“I could have lost my family,” the man stated in the letter.
He noted his daughter was fortunately sleeping upstairs or she could have been killed; the fire struck the room where she usually sleeps.
“This man really put a scare in us that night,” the man wrote Lynch. “I ask you to put yourself in our shoes. What would you expect this gentleman to get for a sentencing?”
Glass pleaded guilty on May 1 to second-degree arson, which carries up to 25 years in prison.
Under his plea deal, he stood to receive up to the 12-year term. He also must undergo 5 years post-release supervision.
___
(c)2015 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.