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Brooklyn Pastor Charged With Manslaughter for 2014 Flatbush Fire, DA Says

BROOKLYN SUPREME COURT — A Brooklyn pastor who was previously honored by the New York State Senate was arraigned Thursday for manslaughter relating to a 2014 fire that killed one person and seriously injured nine in a building he owned, authorities said.

Luckner Lorient, 78, of East Flatbush, New York, owned a three-story mixed-use building at 1434 Flatbush Ave. where a fire broke out in the early morning of Nov. 19, 2014. 

The top two floors were intended to be one-family railroad apartments, but Lorient illegally converted them into six single-room occupancy apartments on the second floor and five on the third floor, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. 

Because of the illegal conversion, tenants used power strips and extension cords to provide power to their apartments. Lorient had been cited by the NYC Housing Preservation and Development for a litany of violations related to both the conversion and electricity in the building, including three violations issued on July 7, 2014 for having unsafe electric connections in three apartments on the second floor. 

“This defendant was well aware of the danger of running an illegal [single room occupancy], but chose to ignore numerous violations and vacate orders issued over many years resulting in this devastating fire that killed a young man and injured many others,” Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson said.

The cause of the deadly fire in November 2014 was a water cooler on the second floor that overloaded an electrical circuit. The fire spread quickly throughout the apartment, to the second floor hallway and up the stairs to the third floor. Twenty of the 23 tenants were home at the time, most of them sleeping, according to the DA.

While tenants on the second floor were able to escape, the tenants on the third floor were either trapped or overcome by smoke and lost consciousness. One of those tenants, Jeff Frederic, 24, died of smoke inhalation, according to the indictment.

Many of the apartments did not have access to the building's sole fire escape and none of them had smoke or fire alarms, the indictment said.

Firefighters rescued six unconscious tenants from rooms and hallways on the third floor. Many of the tenants suffered moderate to severe smoke inhalation and three were seriously burned.

Lorient used the first floor of the building for a church, the Eglise Baptiste Clarte Celeste, where he was the pastor.

In September 2013, the New York State Senate honored Luckner for his "selfless devotion" through his work as a minister at that church. The legislation was sponsored by State Sen. Kevin S. Parker of New York's 21st District, which includes Flatbush, and lauded Lorient for his "unremitting and compassionate faith and his exemplary service to God, man, and his community."

On Thursday, New York City Buildings Commissioner Rick D. Chandler had a different description of Lorient.

"The building owner’s reckless disregard for both the law and his responsibility to protect his tenants cost a young man his life," Chandler said. 

Lorient was arrested on Tuesday July 26, 2016 at around 5:30 p.m. at Miami International Airport on a warrant issued in New York, according to the Miami Police Department. 

He was arraigned in Brooklyn court Thursday and charged with 14 criminal counts including second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.