Riverhead man charged with arson attempt after throwing lit Molotov cocktail into neighbor's home, police say
Monwell A. Wright, 21, of Riverhead, was arrested Sunday night, June 14, 2015, and charged with attempted arson, police said. Wright is accused of throwing a lit Molotov cocktail into his neighbor's home, they said. Credit: Riverhead Town Police
A 21-year-old Riverhead man was arrested and charged with attempted arson after he threw a lit Molotov cocktail into his neighbor's home Sunday night, police said.
Monwell A. Wright, of 23 Segal Ave., was arrested in the area not long into the investigation, Riverhead Town police said.
He was charged with second-degree attempted arson.
Police said that the complainant, who was inside the targeted Segal Avenue house with several family members, told officers that someone had "ignited a glass bottle containing a flammable liquid," then "threw it into the north side of his residence."
The bottle did not break, however, police said -- and any fire was quickly extinguished. The was no damage to the home, police said.
Police were notified of the incident in a 911 call at 9:43 p.m. The Suffolk County police Arson Squad also responded.
Wright was held overnight for arraignment Monday.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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