A Middletown, New York, man has pled guilty to arson in the second degree in the destruction of a New York State trooper’s family home in 2023. The man reportedly burned down the home over traffic tickets.

Tyler Williams, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2025. Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler says his office will ask for a sentence of 20 years plus five years of post-release supervision.

Court documents and testimony say that on the evening of December 20, 2023, Williams was pulled over in Middletown by the trooper and issued traffic tickets. “Early the next morning, a fire was started at the home of the Trooper’s father in Warwick,” the DA said in a statement.

Over almost five months, a team of investigators and prosecutors, comprised of members of the Town of Warwick Police Department, the New York State Police Major Crimes Unit and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office worked the case.

“The investigation revealed that in the hours after being issued the traffic tickets by the Trooper and before setting the fire, the defendant utilized various search websites in an effort to learn the address of the Trooper. At the plea proceedings, Williams admitted to intentionally starting the fire at the house when he knew or should have known that people were in the home,” Hoovler said in a statement.

“This incident struck at the heart of every law enforcement officer and their families,” said Town of Warwick Police Chief John Rader. “We are out there every day serving and protecting our communities and it is beyond comprehension that our lives and the lives of our families could be targeted for doing our job. The fact that we are sitting here today at this press conference is a testament to the professionalism of the first arriving Town of Warwick police officers at the scene of the early morning fire; the dedication and tenacity of the Town of Warwick Police Detectives and the NY State BCI Investigators that were assigned to this case; the assistance of the Town of Goshen Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the ATF; and the cooperation of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.”