CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — A Wildwood man has been charged with aggravated arson and making terroristic threats following a domestic incident Wednesday.
The arrest of Ismael Ayala, 37, was announced Friday in a joint news release from Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor and Wildwood police Chief Steven Long following an investigation of an apartment fire Wednesday.
Police were called that night at 7 p.m. to Lincoln and New Jersey avenues for a report of a male fighting with a female. The female went to the Police Department to file a temporary restraining order and, while she was gone, a fire broke out at her apartment.
Police officers evacuated the building and the Wildwood Fire Department extinguished the blaze. An investigation by local police, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire was intentionally set. Ayala was charged and sent to the Cape May County jail in lieu of $75,000 cash bail.
Taylor said Ayala faces as long as 15 years in prison if convicted.
Contact Richard Degener:
609-463-6711
