Tyre, Seneca County (September 13, 2022) - On May 3, 2022, at approximately 5:33 a.m., several officers from multiple counties, including Monroe County Sheriff’s Sergeant Matthew Clancy and Deputy William Connell with the MCSO Hazardous Device Squad (Bomb Squad) responded to the Love’s Travel Plaza in the Town of Tyre, Seneca County for the report of a critical incident in progress, to include multiple fires and the suspected threat of explosive devices. Sergeant Clancy, Deputy Connell and an FBI Special Agency Bomb Tech conducted security sweeps of the store and discovered what appeared to be an explosive device. After performing several tests on the device, it was determined to be a hoax device. They continued to conduct a sweep of the rest of the travel plaza and a nearby tractor trailer.
Deputies and officers from several responding law enforcement agencies took two suspects into custody for starting the fires and attempting to set a one-year old child on fire. A four year old child was also found in the bed of a tractor trailer with an apparent head injury. Both children were transported to area hospitals and fortunately are expected to make full recoveries.
As a result of the police investigation, the suspects, Jamie L. Avery, 28 and Lisbeth Collado, 25, both of West Palm Beach, Florida, face multiple felony charges. Avery and Collado were indicted by a Seneca County grand jury on the following charges:
- Attempted Aggravated Murder, Class-B Felony
- Attempted Murder 2nd , Class B-Felony
- Arson 2nd, Class-B Felony
- Attempted Arson 2nd, Class-C Felony
- Attempted Assault 1st, Class-C Felony
- Endangering the Welfare of a Child (2 counts), Class-A Misdemeanor
Both Avery and Collado were arraigned in Seneca County Court and remanded to the Seneca County Correctional Facility on $200K cash bail, $400K secured bond, or $800K partially secured bond.
“We are extremely grateful for the heroic acts of all of the area law enforcement officers, firefighters, and investigators who responded from multiple agencies,” said Monroe County Sheriff Todd K. Baxter. “I am proud of the teamwork and excellence exhibited by Sergeant Clancy and Deputy Connell in responding to this WE ARE PROFESSIONALS WWW.MONROECOUNTYSHERIFF.INFO incident to lend their expertise to a tense and volatile situation. Two innocent children are alive today because of the quick efforts of these brave first responders.”
The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office and Seneca County Board of Supervisors presented commendations this evening to Sergeant Clancy, Deputy Connell and all first responders who contributed to this multi-faceted case.