Photos Show South Brunswick Home Damaged In Alleged Arson

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Monday, Patch wrote about how a Somerville rapper nicknamed Skinnyfromthe9 has been indicted for trying to set a South Brunswick home on fire in 2014. The homeowner said she was inside when it caught fire.

These are photos of the fire, on Greenview Road. The alleged attempted arson happened in September 2014. Police say Skinnyfromthe9, whose birth name is David Villegas, and five other men allegedly drove to a parking lot near the South Brunswick home — armed with bats, knives and flare guns — and fired the flare guns at the home, "causing it to ignite." Terrence Strothers, 24, of South Bound Brook and Gennaro Toscano, 19, of Green Brook were also charged with aggravated arson.

Also, the homeowner, a woman, said she was inside the home when the rapper and his friends allegedly deliberately pointed flare guns at the home, and pulled the trigger, intending to set it ablaze.

"We had just completed $150,00 in renovations one month before the fire," said the homeowner, who asked not to be identified. "There was over $300,000 worth of damage after the fire. We lost everything."

The fire was the result of an alleged fight over a teenage girl and her teenage son, she said.

"They drove to my home with weapons in their vehicles, rang my doorbell, waited for me to say, 'Who is it?' and the flares began to hit the house right after," she said.

Villegas, 22, and the others are charged with second-degree aggravated arson, aggravated assault and other charges.

The rapper, pictured above, is also facing kidnapping and assault charges for an unrelated incident in the beating of a 21-year old Somerville man.

Past Patch reporting: Somerville Rapper Charged With South Brunswick Arson Attempt