Rideshare Driver Charged With Setting Early-Morning Arson Fire At Bergen County Pizzeria

GOTCHA! A rideshare driver from Carlstadt was charged with setting a fire in the basement of a Wood-Ridge pizzeria that investigators said had multiple points of origin.

CENTER: Majd Abdallah / 251 Valley Boulevard, Wood-Ridge
Photo Credit: *James Wood Sr. for DAILY VOICE / CENTER: MUGSHOT*

Jerry DeMarco

03/02/2022 4:41 p.m.

Majd Abdallah, a 27-year-old Jordanian national, was arrested following an investigation into the Feb. 21 blaze, which broke out in a common basement area below Emilia Romagna Pizza & Ristorante on Valley Boulevard shortly before 8 a.m., Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

He’s charged with several counts of aggravated arson and burglary, Musella said.

No injuries were reported were in the two-alarm blaze. Firefighters from Carlstadt, Little Ferry, Lodi and Moonachie provided mutual aid.

Working sprinklers prevented a potential disaster, responders at the scene said, while citing separate points of ignition.

That brought detectives from Musella’s Major Crimes Unit Arson Task Force who investigated with Wood-Ridge police.

Abdallah remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday, March 2, pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, following his arrest the day before.

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