(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that three men; ELVIS OSVALDO ROMERO MARTINEZ, 20, ALBERT YANES MORAN, 20, and LORENZO NOHELY ALVARADO NAVARETTE, 18, all Salvadoran nationals, were arrested in possession of two Molotov Cocktails and a cannister of gasoline following a car stop on Lexington Avenue in Brentwood. All three defendants were released following their arraignment today in Suffolk County District Court due to the People’s inability to request bail and the court’s inability to set bail under the New York State bail laws.
“Under “Bail Reform,” possessing Molotov cocktails, even when it is alleged that they were to be used to firebomb an automobile, is not bail-eligible, meaning my prosecutors cannot even ask for bail on three Salvadoran nationals with tenuous ties to the United States,” said District Attorney Tierney. “The thing that supposedly never happens in New York just happened again – we cannot seek bail on a case that clearly cries out for bail – because of our unworkable bail laws. Compounding the danger to the public, although two of these three defendants are allegedly here illegally, due to the “Protect our Courts Act,” federal agents cannot come to the courthouse to take custody of the defendants here without risking arrest themselves. Although Bail Reform and the Protect Our Courts Act once again have protected criminals, including alleged criminals seeking to use dangerous Molotov cocktails to commit a firebombing, no one in Albany thought to actually protect the public.”
According to the investigation, on March 10, 2026, at approximately 1:38 a.m., a member of the Suffolk County Police Department conducted a car stop on a vehicle in the vicinity of Lexington Avenue and Caleb’s Path in Brentwood. After being stopped, the driver of the vehicle, ELVIS OSVALDO ROMERO MARTINEZ, allegedly jumped from the driver’s seat of the vehicle to the rear backseat of the vehicle. The officer subsequently spoke to the defendants and observed two Molotov Cocktails in glass beer bottles in the pocket of the rear driver’s side door, as well as a cannister of gasoline in the trunk of the vehicle.
Based upon the investigation, the Defendants allegedly possessed the Molotov cocktails with the intention of “firebombing” an automobile of an individual they had a previous dispute with, at the direction of a fourth individual, who has not yet been charged.
All three defendants were arraigned in Suffolk County District Court before the Honorable Jennifer A. Henry and Pierce F. Cohalan on March 11, 2026. As stated at the arraignments for the defendants, the District Attorney’s Office is only able to pursue charges under a subsection of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree which is not bail eligible, meaning the District Attorney’s Office cannot request bail and a judge cannot set bail.
As indicated by federal authorities, defendant ALVARADO NAVARRETE is a Lawful Permanent Resident from El Salvador and defendants YANES MORAN and ROMERO MARTINEZ have no status in the United States.
As such, all three defendants were released following their arraignments, despite their immigration status and the District Attorney’s Office stated intention of pursuing charges which carry a prison sentence of up to seven years in prison.
This case is being prosecuted by Matthew Laube of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Detective Andrew Shifrin of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Third Squad.