Suspects thrown out of Hyannis home hour before fire-bombing, police say

(Vincent DeWitt for the Boston Globe)

The suspects in a firebombing at a Hyannis home appeared today in Barnstable District Court. From left: Joshua Debonaise, 19, of Hyannis; Andrew Nickerson, 19, of Mashpee; Victor Mason, 20, of East Boston; and Jose Reyes, 22, of Fitchburg.

By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

HYANNIS -- Four men accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail into a bedroom where three children were sleeping had spent much of the evening drinking in the home, police and prosecutors said today.

Dennis Edwards threw the four men out of his apartment on Hiramar Road at 11 p.m. Wednesday after getting in an argument with Jose Reyes. The 22-year-old from Boston left with his three friends in a Pontiac Grand Prix. They picked up a 20-year-old woman, Tiffany Mason, who was videotaped by a surveillance camera as she bought $1 worth of gasoline at a service station, said Tara Miltimore, a Cape and Islands assistant district attorney.

The carload of five suspects -- who pleaded not guilty today -- returned to Hiramar Road at 2:40 a.m. and allegedly threw a flaming 40-ounce bottle of gasoline through a bedroom window where the children were sleeping. Although much of the gasoline spilled outside the home when the bottle hit a screen, the room still burst into flames. All the occupants of the house escaped unharmed.

“The fact that you are not writing about some homicide or somebody with burns over 80 percent of her body is just amazing,” Sergeant Sean Sweeney told a Globe reporter this morning.

Edwards described the suspects to police and told them that they were driving a Grand Prix with a broken window covered by a garbage bag. State Police spotted the car in Medford and were able to arrested all five suspects Thursday night. The other three suspects were identified as Andrew Nickerson, 19, of Mashpee; Joshua Debonise, 19, of Mashpee; and Victor Mason, 20, of East Boston. Victor Mason is the adopted brother of Tiffany Mason, who lives in Hyannis.

They were arraigned today on charges that included seven counts of attempted murder, arson of a dwelling, and possessing a bomb or explosive. The four men were held on high bail. Bail for Tiffany Mason was set at $1,000.

The blaze destroyed the Hiramar Road apartment where Edwards, 32, lived with his 4-year-old son, Tynan. Edwards's girlfriend, Michaela Salvadori, 32, was visiting with her daughters, who are 2 years and 7 months old, and they were sleeping in the bedroom with Edwards's son when the explosive was thrown through the first-floor window.

Another friend, Donyel Carey, 34, was lying on the living room couch with her 1-year-old daughter on her chest when she heard a loud bang from the rear room where the three other children were sleeping.

Everyone, along with the family pit bull, made it out safely. Police officers also ran into the adjacent unit in the duplex to wake up a 65-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman, who also were uninjured.

(Vincent DeWitt for the Boston Globe)

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