BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Nathan Wasyl, the man who allegedly set fire to five garages in Buffalo's Elmwood Village on Tuesday, will undergo a forensic exam to determine his mental competency for a potential trial.
Judge Andrew LoTempio ordered the forensic exam after initially showing skepticism over Wasyl's mental fitness because of the defendant's ability to answer questions about where he was and why he was there.
READ MORE: Firefighters deal with numerous blazes in Elmwood Village.
"He seems lucid to me," LoTempio said in court.
Wasyl's attorney, Gary Phillips, described Wasyl's actions as "delusions of grandeur" and later convinced LoTempio that a test should be ordered.
Firefighters fought the five different fires on Highland Avenue, Elmwood Avenue, Cleveland Avenue, and Penhurst Place. The call for the first fire happened just after midnight Tuesday, and crews responded to the fifth fire on Penhurst around 3:30 a.m. Two firefighters were injured over the course of the evening battling the fires, suffering minor burns. One has already returned to work while the other could miss up to two weeks of work after burns to the face and neck.
Wasyl was arrested in a garage at the Elmwood Village and has since been charged with 20 different crimes. He received five counts of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, three counts of burglary in the third degree, one count of burglary in the second degree (because of the injury to the firefighter), a trespassing charge, plus five counts of arson in the third. He faces 75 years in prison if convicted.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office previously indicated that they would recuse themselves from the case because one of the victims was an assistant district attorney. No motions were filed today though a spokesperson for the DA's office confirmed they still plan to seek an outside office to prosecute Wasyl.