{"id":130327,"date":"2026-02-11T19:06:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/130327\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:06:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:06:24","slug":"staten-island-arson-man-charged-with-torching-apartment-building-stalking-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/130327\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island arson: Man charged with torching apartment building, stalking victim"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y \u2014 Authorities allege that a 32-year-old man was involved in a series of disturbing incidents that culminated in arson when he torched the apartment building where he lived in Graniteville. <\/p>\n

Prior to the fire on Sunday morning, Matthew Brower repeatedly stalked and harassed an individual living in a different apartment in the two-story building at 1300 Richmond Ave., according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

A firefighter was injured as about 80 fire and EMS personnel battled the blaze amid dangerously cold temperatures, according to an FDNY spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Fire marshals determined that Brower lit the fire at about 6:39 a.m. inside a room on the first floor near a hallway leading to other occupied apartments, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Brower allegedly ignited the couch in his apartment, causing significant charring and deterioration on that piece of furniture. The blaze also scorched and blackened the ceiling and walls in that room, according to a law-enforcement source.<\/p>\n

An Advance\/SILive.com reporter on the scene Sunday noted extensive damage to the front, first-floor apartment where the defendant lived. <\/p>\n

Words were scrawled inside the apartment on the bedroom wall, a mirror and a door. At least part of the writing said \u201cHillary Clinton\u201d on one wall and \u201cCDC\u201d in another section.<\/p>\n

The emergency response began after a woman walking her dog called 911 when she saw fire and smoke coming out of the apartment, according to the source.<\/p>\n

The FDNY had to rescue the stalking victim and a second individual by taking them out of the building through a window during the fire, the source said.<\/p>\n

Four individuals were evaluated by EMS on the scene but refused transportation to a hospital, the FDNY spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

One firefighter was taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton with minor injuries, according to the FDNY.<\/p>\n

After igniting the fire, Brower allegedly went several blocks to a relative\u2019s house. The relative called 911 to report that the defendant was emotionally disturbed and responding officers took him to a hospital, according to the source.<\/p>\n

Brower has been charged with arson and reckless endangerment, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

\"nwsA damaged apartment after firefighters responded to a fire at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday morning. Feb. 8 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)Stalking and harassment detailed<\/p>\n

The day before the fire, the criminal complaint alleges that Brower violated an order or protection previously obtained by the stalking victim. <\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s incident began with Brower banging on the wall of his apartment.<\/p>\n

The criminal complaint alleges that the stalking victim was walking past Brower\u2019s apartment when the defendant said to the victim, \u201cYou\u2019re so hot, let me rape you in the a—–e.\u201d <\/p>\n

The victim then called 911. Police took a report from the victim, but the defendant did not answer his door. There was no indication that the defendant was arrested at that time, according to the source. <\/p>\n

The criminal complaint details multiple offensive and sometimes threatening remarks that Brower made to the victim starting in December. Some of the alleged comments were sexual in nature, and some related to the victim\u2019s physical appearance.<\/p>\n

Brower repeatedly rang the victim\u2019s doorbell and knocked on the door. Sometimes he left items in front of the victim\u2019s door, including a power cord and condoms, according to the criminal complaint. <\/p>\n

The defendant has been charged with criminal contempt, stalking and harassment.<\/p>\n

Brower has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The defendant is being held at Rikers Island in lieu of bail set at $600,000 bond\/$200,000 cash. He is scheduled to appear in Criminal Court in St. George on Feb. 13, according to public records.<\/p>\n

An attorney for the defendant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"nwsOne firefighter was injured as the FDNY responded to a fire in a two-story apartment building at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday morning. Feb. 8 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)\"nwsA damaged apartment after firefighters responded to a fire at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday morning. Feb. 8 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)\"nwsDebris from an early morning apartment fire at 1300 Richmond Ave. in Graniteville on Sunday, Feb. 8 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Mike Matteo)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y \u2014 Authorities allege that a 32-year-old man was involved in a series of disturbing incidents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-130327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}