A New Jersey prosecutor says a homeless, 19-year-old unemployed man charged in the firebombings of two synagogues is an anti-Semite who intended to cause harm. Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Tuesday that investigators believe Anthony Graziano of Lodi knew there were people inside when he threw Molotov cocktails into a Rutherford synagogue building that also houses the rabbi's family.
Molinelli said Graziano rode a bike to the synagogue, and one of the first firebombs he threw into the building landed in the rabbi's second-floor bedroom while the family was asleep.
Graziano faces nine counts of attempted murder. Molinelli said the charges carry a minimum 30-year sentence because of the number of people in the building. No one was seriously injured.
Graziano is also charged in an earlier firebombing in Paramus.
An orange soda bottle led investigators to the suspect, according to Jerry DeMarco, publisher of the hyperlocal website Cliffview.
"They were able to trace that evidence to a Walmart on Route 46 in Saddlebrook. They were able then to get video tape images of the man buying those various product," DeMarco said.