2 Suspects Plead Not Guilty in Unrelated Fires

Two Suffolk men suspected of setting fires in unrelated cases pleaded not guilty to arson charges in Suffolk County Court yesterday.

Alfredo Bartos, 69, of Lindenhurst, pleaded not guilty to third-degree arson for setting ablaze a Lindenhurst marina where he once worked. Prosecutor Peter Timmons said that after recently being fired from his job at Kydd's Marine Center on Montauk Highway, Bartos returned there on Jan. 28, "dropped a large quantity of gasoline ... and des- troyed approximately 15 boats." Bartos, who was represented by a Legal Aid attorney, was held on $200,000 cash bail.

Michael Eisenberg, 17, of Blue Point, pleaded not guilty to second-degree arson for a Jan. 13 fire prosecutors said he set. Timmons said Eisenberg lit a discarded Christmas tree on fire and threw it on the porch of a Blue Point home. Prosecutors said a family of four escaped from the house before firefighters extinguished the flames. Eisenberg remained free on bail of $250,000 bond.

Eisenberg's attorney, Nancy Bartling, said she was still investigating the case, but described her client as "a good kid."

- Alfonso A. Castillo: Newsday Staff Writer