In what could have been a plotline stolen from “The Sopranos,” the owner of a Queens garbage carting company, Vincent Giuliano, received an ominous phone call last year warning him to either hand over the Maspeth parking lot where he parked his trucks or see the trucks “torched.” Then, the threat was carried out.

Two trucks were set on fire in September 2006, and the alleged perpetrator, a former business associate of Mr. Guiliano’s, Salvatore Lombardo, showed up in January to make sure he got the point across. He allegedly told Mr. Guiliano to get his trucks off the lot, slashing his finger across his throat for emphasis, according to prosecutors.

Mr. Lombardo and three other former associates of Mr. Guiliano were indicted by a grand jury yesterday, the Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, said.

Mr. Lombardo, 37, Antonino Mistretta, 36, Anthony LaPuma, 44, and Lisa LaPuma, 41, are accused of stealing garbage containers and intimidating competitors to benefit their own carting company, KAT Demolition and Karting. They were arrested on grand larceny and conspiracy charges last May and released on bail.

“Such tactics are a throwback to a bygone era,” Mr. Brown said.

A lawyer for the LaPumas, Chad Seigel, said the case was “without merit.”