On February 11, 2016, Cyrus Vance, Jr., the New York County district attorney, announced the indictment and arrest of five people in connection with the explosion, including building owner Maria Hrynenko, Hrynenko's son Michael, a plumber who had used his city license to allow others to perform work for him, the unlicensed plumber who did the work and a contractor, Dilber Kukica. The charges included manslaughter and negligent homicide. The indictments alleged that the explosion was the result of an illegal scheme to tap a legal gas line serving the ground-floor restaurant to provide gas service to the renovated apartments on the floors above. An attorney for the building owner had blamed Con Edison for the blast, saying that "they should have shut off the main valve."Santoro, Marc and McKinley, James C, Jr. (February 11, 2016) "5 Arrested in Connection With East Village Gas Explosion" The New York Times
