A masked serial arsonist brutally set fires next to sleeping subway passengers during a bizarre hour-long spree in Manhattan and Queens last week, police said.
The fire first caught fire around 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 10 in an NYPD patrol car parked near City Hall in front of 254 Broadway, police said.
About 15 minutes later, surveillance footage showed the arsonist, wearing a black down jacket, black hood and rear face mask, setting another unoccupied car on fire near 14 Murray Street, causing it to burst into flames, New York City police said.
Both vehicles remained damaged by the flames, police said.
In the third arson, the arsonist lit a paper cup on fire and threw it into a trash can near Brooklyn Bridge City Hall Station.
A fire ignited and reignited a pile of trash next to a straphanger lying on a northbound J train at the Woodhaven Avenue station around 3:40 a.m., according to police and Metro surveillance footage. The device burst into flames.
Creepy footage released by the New York City Police Department shows an arsonist lurking above subway passengers as flames burst out next to an unsuspecting man.
The video shows the fire bug casually getting off the train.
Police said the fires were being investigated by the NYPD's Arson and Explosive Unit.
The incident comes several weeks after Guatemalan immigrant Sebastian Zapeta Khalil, 33, allegedly set fire to and killed homeless woman Debrina Khawam, 57, as she slept on a Brooklyn F train. occurred later.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website. https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/or with X @NYPDTips.
