BY SCOTT SHIFRELand LEO STANDORA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The 13-year-old Queens cousins charged with setting a Christmas Day fire that killed a security guard had previously threatened the man several times, a city lawyer charged yesterday.

Raymond James, a 32-year-old father of four, deemed the threats serious enough to report them to his supervisor last month, Corporation Counsel Lori Moskowitz told a detention hearing for the pint-size suspects. She gave no further details.

James died after he dragged a smouldering trash bin into an elevator to get it away from residents of a Queens housing complex. Once inside the elevator, the bin exploded in flames as James found himself trapped, authorities said.

Yesterday, the baby-faced suspects looked forlorn and kept their heads down as Moskowitz quoted a resident of the Ocean Village complex in the Rockaways as saying James died screaming for his life.

She said a man who left his fifth-floor apartment to alert neighbors when he smelled smoke told her he heard "banging and screaming from inside the elevator" where James had become trapped.

With the ghastly circumstances of James' death in mind, Moskowitz said both boys would be charged as juveniles with arson and murder.

"There is no more serious charge that can be filed against anyone than the taking of a life," she said.

If convicted, the teens could face up to five years.

Although the young suspects have no previous criminal record, Moskowitz told the court she opposed releasing them to their families because they have "a very significant history" of wrongdoing in the housing complex.

She said in the last couple of months the boys allegedly set fires in a Dumpster, in a garbage room and on a resident's door. They also beat up another child, she said.

The mothers of both kids insisted their boys were innocent even though Moskowitz said they signed statements "admitting culpability." One said, "My son is a very good child, he has never been in trouble. He has never even gotten into a fight."

One of their lawyers, Vladimir Cadet, called James' death "horrific" but claimed his clients were innocent, churchgoing kids with clean records who deserved to go home.

But Judge Edwina Richardson ordered both youngsters confined in a juvenile facility at least until a Dec. 30 hearing.

"I do find that these children would be likely to commit other acts of delinquency," she said.

In another development, Moskowitz said the Housing Authority is in the process of evicting the family of one of the boys.

But his mother told the Daily News she never heard anything about eviction and never got any complaints about her boy's behavior.

Full story at New York Daily News

Submitted on 12/28/2004

Submitted by: Benjamin Basseri
Reference: New York Daily News, 12-28-04

Copyright © 2004 DarwinAwards.com

Jack said:
Maybe Toss: Other
I'd need more information on this - was the flaming trash bin inside of the building or not?

Daniel said:
Maybe Toss: Other
OK, here's a guy who's had his life credibly threatened by street rats who carried out their threat. He's rattled enough to talk to his boss. I agree that taking the fire into an elevator was stupid, but I'm going to plead diminished capacity on his part due to legitimate fear.

Charles said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
While I agree with Daniel's diminished capacity, I think it is still worthy of consideration -- hauling a burning object into a confined space...

Jason said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
While tragic this is a good case of Darwin-grade stupidity. Even if the can was inside the building the city code would require a fire extinguisher be close enough that the gaurd could have put out the fire.

Jorge said:
Maybe Toss: Not Amusing

The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

$6 Darwin Fish. 5.5" x 2.2" Silver Emblem like those commonly seen on cars--only way sexier. A cute fish, floating belly-up, illustrating the mechanism of natural selection. Minimum order is 2.