On Sunday, the NYPD arrested a man suspected of setting a woman on fire as she was asleep in an NYC subway car. Unfortunately, the victim died from the attack.
The woman, who has not been identified, had been asleep on an idle F train in Brooklyn early Sunday morning. According to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the man “calmly walked up to the victim and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing.”
Tisch added that the suspect was later seen sitting on a platform bench just after the incident, but had yet to be identified.
“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform, just outside the train car, and the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look at the killer,” she said.
When the officers smelled the smoke, they immediately responded and put out the fire, with one of the officers staying near the subway train.
“I commend that one officer who stayed there,” said NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta. “[He] made sure he kept the crime scene the way it’s supposed to be, made sure he kept an eye on what was going on, so I think he did his job perfectly. His fellow officers went and got MTA workers, got fire extinguishers and eventually were able to extinguish the individual.”
As for the person of interest, “No one on the scene identified him as being there,” Gulotta said. “Our officers, when they responded, had no indication he was part of this incident. Nothing led us in that direction.”
However, footage from security cameras helped investigators and passersby identify the man later on. Police have since taken him into custody.
“There must be strong, swift consequences on this person,” Michael Kemper, city transportation authority security chief, said at a news conference. “There is no room in civilized society for people like him to be walking around.”
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