The NYPD is searching for a man who was caught on video lighting a gasoline fire outside a Bronx apartment building early Tuesday morning.
Footage shows a man wearing a hooded jacket spark a fire that quickly spreads down the sidewalk on Rochambeau Avenue in the Norwood section of The Bronx.
The suspect casually approaches the building with a pushcart before he walks backward while pouring a liquid along the sidewalk, video obtained by ABC 7 shows.
Bending over, the alleged arsonist ignites the liquid and quickly jumps back to avoid becoming engulfed. He then walks off just as casually as he approached.
Shortly after, two men jump out of a passing car and put out the flames. Those men then drive off without alerting anyone or calling the fire department.
Katrina Curanaj, whose family owns the six-floor apartment building, said her tenants slept through the fire and she only figured out what had happened when checking surveillance footage after spotting a burn mark on the sidewalk.
“I saw the black spot,” Curanaj told ABC7. “I rewound the camera. I saw flames. I panicked. My heart came out of my chest. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
“I’m not going to sleep tonight because how about if I walk out of my building or one of my tenants walk out the building and this guy comes back,” Curanaj said.
“Do you remember the incident of the girl getting burned on the train by somebody throwing gasoline on her and she burned? I don’t want that to happen to one of my tenants or me,” she added in reference to a homeless woman who was allegedly set on fire and burned to death on a subway train by an illegal immigrant in December.
A bottle with a liquid was found in the red bag left behind by the suspect, according to ABC7.
The NYPD is searching for the suspect as the investigation is ongoing. The Fire Marshal has also been alerted that a potential arsonist is still on the loose.
