A Newburgh man was found guilty May 27 in Orange County Court of starting a fire in a hotel in the Town of Newburgh last year.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said a jury found Jason Conn, 49, of Newburgh, guilty of second-degree arson, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief, all felonies, and obstructing firefighting operations, a misdemeanor.
After the verdict was announced, Conn was returned to the Orange County jail, where he is being held without bail pending sentencing.
In July 2025, Town of Newburgh Police said officers responded to a 911 hang-up call from the Ramada Inn at 1289 state Route 300 just after 11:30 a.m. July 24.
According to testimony at Conn’s trial, when police arrived at the hotel, they smelled smoke and noticed that a fire was burning inside a locked room at the hotel.
Police officers saw Conn through a window in the room and told him he had to leave, but he refused. When the officers tried to break the window, Conn tried to stop them from extinguishing the fire. The police found the door to the room barricaded in addition to being locked, so they forced entry through an adjoining room.
Officers were unable to enter the room because of the fire, but responding firefighters, wearing protective gear, made entry. Inside the room, they encountered Conn, who got into a physical struggle with them before ultimately backing down.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, which caused extensive damage to the room.
Hoovler said the jury unanimously concluded that the People proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Conn intentionally started the fire in a building at a time when he knew or should have reasonably known that other people were present and that, by doing so, recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death for another person.
In addition, the jury concluded that Conn’s intentional actions caused damage in an amount exceeding $1,500, and he intentionally and unreasonably obstructed the efforts of firefighters and police to perform their duties to extinguish the fire.
Conn is scheduled to be sentenced on July 9. He faces up to 25 years in state prison.
Conn was represented by Michael Davis of the Legal Aid Society of Orange County. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Newburgh man found guilty of starting fire in hotel, barricading room
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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