STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A 21-year-old ShopRite worker is accused of igniting a fire that sent holiday shoppers and employees scrambling inside the packed supermarket the day before Thanksgiving.
Dominick Sacchetti, of Corbin Avenue in Great Kills, was arraigned in Criminal Court, St. George, on Tuesday. He faces multiple counts of arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, according to the criminal complaint.
Fire marshals say Sacchetti started the fire in the ShopRite at 100 Greaves Lane in Evergreen Plaza on Nov. 26 at about 3:44 p.m., while the store was open and crowded with holiday shoppers.
The fire began spreading quickly through an aisle before a customer briefly attempted to knock it down with a store fire extinguisher, officials said.
Investigators reviewing store surveillance video allegedly saw Sacchetti ignite merchandise on a shelf stocked with paper goods, according to the FDNY.
No injuries to civilians or firefighters were reported, but fire officials estimate damage to the Great Kills supermarket will exceed $100,000.
“While residents of Staten Island were beginning to prepare for Thanksgiving with their families, this individual put the lives of shoppers and responding firefighters at risk,” FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said in a statement, praising the work of fire marshals who “apprehended a dangerous individual who put lives at risk.”
Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon also condemned the incident, saying Sacchetti is alleged to have needlessly endangered “countless Staten Islanders who were simply shopping for food for their families as well as essential ShopRite workers,” and vowing to prosecute acts of arson that threaten residents “to the fullest extent of the law.”
Bail was set at $50,000 cash, or $100,000 bond. Sacchetti’s attorney, John Joseph Rapaway, declined to comment. Sacchetti is scheduled to return to court Friday.
‘It was total chaos’
In the frenzied moments after the fire broke out, a ShopRite employee told the Advance/SILive.com that store sprinklers activated as workers tried to douse the flames with an extinguisher but quickly had to stop when thick smoke made it impossible to see.
“It literally couldn’t have happened in a worse spot,” the employee said, noting that flames rapidly consumed paper products in the aisle while managers ordered staff to abandon their efforts and evacuate the building. Dozens of employees later gathered in the shopping center parking lot until they were dismissed.
The employee noted that the supermarket was “super busy,” with some customers running with carts toward the registers before being told to leave their grocery hauls behind. Others stood at the end of the aisle where the fire started, recording video on their phones; some of those clips ended up circulating on social media.
Outside, several customers arriving for last-minute Thanksgiving ingredients were stunned by the FDNY presence, as store security turned away shoppers who came to pick up holiday orders, including one woman who remarked, “I’m glad I picked up my turkey yesterday.”
Back to business
When the Advance/SILive.com visited the store on Friday, Nov. 28, dozens of shoppers were already filling their carts less than 48 hours after the fire.
A faint smell of smoke lingered, and workers were restocking the paper goods aisle where the fire occurred. All other aisles and departments were fully stocked, with few visible signs that the incident had taken place just two days earlier.