Detectives from Nassau County Police's Arson Bomb Squad report two arrests in the Sept. 10 car fire at a Great Neck North High School parking lot, at 35 Polo Road in the Village of Great Neck. Two young local youths were arrested. Jonathan Rada, 18, and Farbod Hoorizadeh, 17, both of Great Neck, face arson charges.

The fire, reported in the Sept. 18, 2008 issue of the Great Neck Record, occurred at 8:47 p.m. on Sept. 10. A Ford Mustang automobile caught fire in the school's rear parking lot and the police immediately put the incident under investigation. The investigation was conducted by the Bomb and Arson Squad at county police headquarters in Mineola. Police now say that the two young men "did light napkins on fire and then throw them into the rear seat of an unoccupied Mustang convertible auto, causing the back seat to ignite."

Police further report that "the vehicle was totaled with the estimated value of $17,500." No injuries were reported.

The automobile was reported as owned by North High music teacher Roger Ames.

Immediately following the fire, the Alert firefighters had reported that the fire was called in at 8:54 p.m. The Alerts reported responding in two minutes, finding a fully involved fire. The fire was reported "out" within the hour, and the Alert firefighters left the scene at 9:30 p.m.

Along with the Alert firefighters, several Nassau County police officers had also responded to the scene

Nassau County Police Arson Bomb Squad Detective Dalton reports that defendants are being charged with Arson 3rd Degree. Rada was scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 12, and Hoorizadeh was to be arraigned on Nov. 7, both in First District Court in Hempstead.

Jonathan Rada is a North High graduate and Farbod Hoorizadeh is currently a student at North High School.

Following the arrests, Great Neck Public Schools Superintendent Ronald L. Friedman gave the following statement to the Record: "We are delighted that the police took this crime seriously, and pursued the leads and information we provided, resulting in the two arrests. Absolutely critical to the arrests was the fact that the district's new outdoor surveillance video cameras caught the criminals in the act. We are installing outdoor video cameras at all of our schools, and North High was the first school to receive the installation. The actual arson was filmed and we have it on tape. We have videos of the perpetrators' car entering and leaving the North High campus. Our video was turned over to the police, who were able to use it, along with evidence gathered by North High school principal Bernard Kaplan, to make the arrests."