(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Elvis Osvaldo Romero Martinez, 20, a Salvadoran national, Albert Yanes Moran, 20, a Salvadoran national, Lorenzo Nohely Alvarado Navarette, 18, a Salvadoran national and Lawful Permanent Resident, and Lester Merino Avila, 18, a Honduran national, were indicted on Conspiracy charges, for allegedly possessing two Molotov Cocktails and conspiring to use those Molotov Cocktails to firebomb a vehicle.
“Here is yet again another example of how New York State’s failed ‘bail reform’ statute does not protect the public and defies common sense,” said District Attorney Tierney. “These four defendants were indicted for conspiring to firebomb a vehicle, and my prosecutors cannot even request that they be held on bail. What’s worse is that all four defendants have ties outside the United States, making them tremendous flight risks.”
According to the investigation, between March 9, 2026, and March 10, 2026, the defendants allegedly acquired materials to make homemade Molotov Cocktails. The defendants allegedly conspired to use the Molotov Cocktails to firebomb a vehicle belonging to an individual that one of the defendants had a dispute with. In the early morning hours of March 10, 2026, the defendants met in the vicinity of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood where they allegedly prepared Molotov Cocktails with beer bottles and gasoline. Merino Avila allegedly drove to Lexington Avenue in Brentwood with another individual to find the intended target of the firebombing, while Romero Martinez, Yanes Moran, and Alvarado Navarette allegedly followed in a separate car.
At approximately 1:38 a.m., a Suffolk County Police Officer conducted a car stop in the vicinity of Lexington Avenue and Caleb’s Path in Brentwood. The driver of the vehicle, Romero Martinez, allegedly jumped from the driver’s seat into the backseat. When the officer spoke to the defendants inside the vehicle, he allegedly observed two Molotov Cocktails in the rear driver’s side door, as well as a cannister of gasoline. A further search of the vehicle revealed a mask and lighter inside a bag that allegedly belonged to Yanes Moran.
A search of the cell phones recovered from several of the defendants allegedly revealed conversations between the defendants planning and acquiring the materials to carry out the firebombing.
On May 26, 2026, Romero Martinez, Alvarado Navarette, and Yanes Moran were arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz for one count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a Class D felony, and one count of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
On May 27, 2026, Merino Avila was arraigned on the indictment for one count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and one count of Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
As a result of all of the charges being non-bail eligible under current New York State law, all four defendants were released following their arraignments. Romero Martinez, Yanes Moran, and Merino Avila are due back in court on June 17, 2026. Alvarado Navarette is due back in court on June 18, 2026.
Romero Martinez, Yanes Moran, and Alvarado Navarette face up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. Merino Avila faces up to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison if convicted of the top count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney 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.