Arsonist behind Manchester, NJ home fire and hate spree sentenced

🔥 NJ man Spray painted 14 houses with swastikas, other Nazi imagery

🔥 Said he was saving the neighborhood

🔥 Family rebuilding after losing new home to fire

MANCHESTER — An Ocean County man has been sentenced to time in state prison for an anti-Semitic crime spree that destroyed the new home of a young Hispanic family.

Ron Carr, 35, admitted earlier this year that he was responsible for vandalizing 14 houses in his hometown of Manchester on June 6, 2023, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. The graffiti spree targeted a Jewish neighborhood.

Early the next morning, Carr also set fire to a house in the Pine Lake Park section of town. Three homes and trees nearby were also damaged but no one was hurt.

Carr pleaded guilty on June 20, 2024 to arson, bias intimidation, and two counts of criminal mischief.

Anti-Semitic arsonist thought he was a vigilante

Carr was sentenced on Friday to seven years in state prison on the arson charge. He also received five years on one count of bias intimidation and 18 months for criminal mischief, however the sentences will run concurrently.

According to an affidavit, Carr said to police that he thought the home would be turned into a school after it burnt down. He believed he was "saving the neighborhood" from its Jewish residents, which he called an "infestation."

Read More: Latino family in NJ loses home to arson targeting Jewish block

"It’s my hope he’ll get the help he needs," Carr's defense attorney Shane Paugh said to NJ.com.

Manchester family rebuilds after fire sparked by hate

Angel and Brenda Rivas are rebuilding after they lost their new home in the June 7, 2023 fire. The structure was under construction and burnt down to its foundation.

The mayor, a local councilman, a member of the school board, business owners, and several Orthodox Jewish community members got together to help. They created the Rebuild RIVAS Pine Lake Park Coalition.

A GoFundMe was also created to raise money for the new home. It has raised around $11,000.

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