Building owners charged in 86th street fire deaths
By Paula Katinas
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Bensonhurst — They didn’t start the fire, but the owners of an 86th Street apartment house in which five people were killed in blaze two years ago are partly responsible for the deaths, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, who announced the indictments of the two owners.
Vasilios Gerazounis, 68, and his son, Argyrios Gerazounis, 37, who are the joint owners of 2033 86th St., have been charged with five counts of manslaughter, five counts of reckless endangerment and one count of assault in connection with the deaths of five tenants who were trying to escape an arson fire that ripped through the building on Jan. 30, 2010.
The tenants could not escape the fire because the landlords had set up illegal subdivisions, blocking the tenants’ means of escape in case of a fire, according to the indictment.