A Hudson Valley man pleaded guilty Tuesday to setting a New York state trooper’s childhood home on fire in revenge for the trooper issuing him a traffic ticket.
Tyler Williams, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree arson and faces up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing hearing on Jan. 6, the Orange County district attorney’s office said in a press release.
“Every day in America, police officers write countless traffic tickets, and it does not result in those drivers setting fire to those officers’ homes in retribution,” District Attorney David Hoovler said. “Law enforcement represents the backbone of the safety of our community, and they must be protected for doing the dangerous work that they do every day.”
Williams was pulled over in Middletown on Dec. 20, 2023, and issued multiple traffic tickets, authorities said.
After the traffic stop, Williams began searching online for information about the trooper who pulled him over. He eventually found an address for the trooper’s childhood home in Warwick, about 15 miles south of Middletown, cops said.
The following morning, the trooper’s childhood home was destroyed in a fire. Cops immediately launched an arson investigation, and Williams was arrested in May.
“This incident struck at the heart of every law enforcement officer and their families,” Warwick Police Chief John Rader said. “It is beyond comprehension that our lives and the lives of our families could be targeted for doing our job.”
