Firebug Cool When Sentenced to Prison

By CHRISTELL CHERENFANT

A bar worker who pleaded guilty to burglary and arson in the second-degree when setting fire to the place where he worked, was sentenced three-and-a-half years in prison followed by five years of probation on Thursday.

In May  2015, Aureliano Flores, who was at the time, was caught stealing $2,200 from the register of Pony Bar, a bar that serves some of the most extensive tap beer, in the Upper East Side.

Flores, a Brooklynite, tried to hide his face from the surveillance cameras with an umbrella, then to cover his tracks, began pouring gasoline on the floor of the bar, which has three floors of apartments above, and set the place ablaze. The flames were put out by the sprinkler system.

Flores, who said that he stole the money to pay his rent snd buy his girlfriend a trip to Mexico, was stopped by fire marshals before he left the building.

Flores, dressed in a sweat suit, appeared cool and calm at the sentencing, though he benches were filled with unhappy family members and friends who seemed to be in more pain than he was.

After Justice Maxwell Wiley’s ruling, his supporters ran from the room in tears.

“I wish to not have anything else put into the media,” said one young teary-eyed woman after Flores’ lawyer told the family to talk only to him on the phone. The defense attorney, as well as various other family members, wished to remain anonymous because they  said the media portrayed Flores in a bad light.