Jay Freedman, 60, was arrested following an investigation into the late-afternoon fire Tuesday in his eighth-floor apartment in the Charlton, a 20-story high rise off Bergen Boulevard, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.
Responders quickly doused it, Musella said.
Freedman, meanwhile, was charged with a minor count of causing or risking widespread injury or damage, then was released pending a Feb. 11 first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, the prosecutor said.
His Major Crimes Unit Arson Squad investigated with Fort Lee police, he said.
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