Fire captain testifies in federal trial

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Fire captain testifies in federal trial
Arson method linked several local blazes

By RAYMOND L. SMITH Tribune Chronicle
POSTED: January 12, 2010

CLEVELAND - It was the unusual crude candle timer and a plastic gasoline can used in a 2005 arson at a Leavittsburg market that led investigators to link that blaze to up to nine others in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the Mahoning Valley, a Youngstown fire captain testified Monday in a Cleveland federal courtroom.

As a result of the blazes, the property owners are believed to have collected nearly $1 million in insurance claims.

Youngstown fire Capt. Kevin Johnson testified that fire officials had recognized that many of the fires were arson but said they did not determine the similarities until after a 2005 blaze at Young's Market in Leavittsburg.

It was in that fire that investigators determined the blazes were ignited uniquely. Arsonists had used five-gallon jugs of gasoline with cloth serving as wicks to connect the containers and a lit candle as a crude timing device. The ignited fire melted the containers, allowing the gasoline to spread and become an accelerant.

Using the information from the Leavittsburg fire, Johnson testified Monday that he reviewed earlier Youngstown-area fires and determined that these fast-moving fires could have been started in similar ways.

On trial in Cleveland U.S. District Court are Majeed Bazazpour, 45, of Youngstown, Iraj Nasseri, 49, of Poland, and Mohammad Fard, 45, of Canfield.

Four others have been charged in the arson-for-profit scheme. Three other defendants - Cyrus and Jamshid Ghassab and Farideh Jamadi - are believed to have fled to the Middle East, court papers have said.

Frank Tenney, 30, of Masury, pleaded guilty to two counts in March and is expected to testify in this trial for the government, court papers filed in the Cleveland courtroom of U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells state.

The indictment included multiple counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in an effort to enrich themselves by mailing false insurance claims, conspiracy to commit arson of an Interstate building, conspiracy to commit money laundering, three counts of aiding and abetting arson in commission of a felony, four counts of aiding and abetting to commit arson, two counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud, five counts of aiding and abetting money laundering and one count of aiding and abetting possession of forged security.

At the center of the trial is a series of arsons, most that occurred at area businesses overnight, beginning at 3:31 a.m. Sept. 2, 1995. Here, Lucky Corner Market, 901 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown, a heavily secured building, caught fire and was fully engulfed within minutes.

Other fires investigators believe are linked include:

Valley Bar, 2606 Glenwood Ave., also in Youngstown. At the fire, officials found a 2.5-gallon red plastic gas can. Johnson testified that Bazazpour had once worked at the Valley Bar.
A vehicle fire in a 1990 Plymouth at 1122 Parkview, about a block from the Valley Bar.
A fire at 2:01 a.m. Dec. 11, 1999, at Gina Drive-Thru, 608 North Garland Ave. There is indication there was a fire accelerate underneath the building's roof.
Arson at J.B. Lounge, 2606 Glenwood Ave. Here Johnson said local TV news footage shows Bazazpour at the scene.
Another fire occurred at 3:23 a.m. June 24, 2005, at the Party Pantry, Youngstown.
Four fires occurred at Young's Market, 55 S. Leavitt Road, Leavittsburg, July 21, July 25, Aug. 8 and Nov. 13, 2005.
In December 2005, Bazazpour was shot five times by an unidentified assailant.

''He had bruising on the right side of his face, as if he also was beaten,'' Johnson said from the stand Monday.

He suggested a disagreement with Cyrus Ghassab over the purchase of Young's Market in Leavittsburg.

"(He) did not have the nonchalant attitude he had at the earlier fire," Johnson said. "He denied having anything to do with causing the fires. He said Cyrus had many fires, and he might be involved."

Youngstown Fire Department Capt. Alvin Ware, head of the Fire Investigative Unit, previously said investigators were suspicious when they noticed the properties in Youngstown all had the same owner. Most of the properties involved in the scheme were bars or stores, Ware said.

The criminal trial is expected to continue for several weeks in Cleveland.

The case was investigated by several different agencies, including the Fire Investigation Unit of the Youngstown Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Fact Box
Fires

Investigators believe several fires that occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the Youngstown area are linked. They include:

- Lucky Corner Market, 901 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown

- Valley Bar, 2606 Glenwood Ave., Youngstown

- A vehicle fire in a 1990 Plymouth at 1122 Parkview

- Gina Drive-Thru, 608 N. Garland Ave.

- J.B. Lounge, 2606 Glenwood Ave.

- Party Pantry, Youngstown

- Four fires at Young's Market, 55 S. Leavitt Road, Leavittsburg