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Midtown hotel security chief set fires when he wanted a break: FDNY – Metro US

Midtown hotel security chief set fires when he wanted a break: FDNY

Photo by Flickr user JasonParis. Credit: JasonParis/flickr

The security director for an upscale Times Square hotel, Yotel, has been arrested after it emerged that he was prone to setting small fires whenever he felt he needed a little time off.

Mariano Barbosa, 30, was arrested on Friday for allegedly setting small fires at the hotel five separate times since 2011, and three fires at the Soho Grand Hotel where he previously worked as a security guard.

Barbosa’s daily responsibilities apparently were put on hold while the fires were extinguished and the damage repaired, allowing him free time to do as he pleased.

“He started the fires to lighten his workload,” an FDNY sourcetold the Daily News. “Security directorsget comp rooms at the hotel. After the fires, the hotel would be shut down for repairs and he would be in his comp room, boozing it up.”

Barbosa, of West New York, N.J., was arraigned Sunday on charges of arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. He was being held on $5,000 bail.