Federal officials arrested a Brooklyn NY pastor accused of negligently causing a fire that resulted in one person dying and 14 other people suffering serious injuries.

Luckner Lorient was apprehended by law enforcement at Miami International Airport. The 78-year-old New Yorker was reportedly coming back from a trip to Haiti when police captured him.

Lorient was a highly respected pastor at Eglise Baptiste Clarte Celeste in Flatbush NY and was actually honored at one point by the New York State Senate. Now Lorient faces criminal charges for homicide in connection with a deadly fire at a Flatbush Avenue building in November 2014. The building housed Lorient’s church and was owned by the pastor. While the church was located on the building’s ground floor, several cramped apartment were located on the upper floors. NY officials indicated that many of the apartments were created from a large space, which is illegal for tenant safety reasons.

Not only was Lorient allegedly violating fire safety laws, he was actually cited by Brooklyn officials for illegally subdividing multiple floors in the building. The citations were issued approximately two months before the deadly fire. Inspectors reported that one of the tenants in Lorient’s building was living in a subdivided apartment with 20 other people. Moreover, the building was reportedly not equipped with sufficient fire escapes or fire alarms.

The fire that broke out in the Brooklyn building resulted in six people being hospitalized with critical injuries. Two of the individuals afflicted with the most serious fire-related injuries were a 70-year-old senior and a teenage boy who was in the building at the time. A 39-year-old man who lived in Lorient’s building suffered such severe burn injuries that he ended up spending more than a month in a medically induced coma. Tragically, a 23-year-old Haitian man who was also living in Lorient’s building died due to the fire.

Now Lorient is set to face criminal charges in the case. He had been wanted on an active arrest warrant out of Brooklyn. Law enforcement finally apprehended him at a Miami airport. He was later book into the Miami-Dade County Jail while awaiting extradition back to New York.

For more information, read the NY Daily News article, “Celebrated Brooklyn Pastor Arrested for Role in Deadly 2014 Fire.”

 

If you have been arrested and charged with a criminal offense in NY, you should speak with a qualified criminal defense attorney. The experienced criminal defense lawyers at the LaDuca Law Firm can help you fight your criminal charges and avoid the most severe penalties. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation at our office in Rochester, New York.