From Newsgroup: nyc.politics

A migrant from Guatemala has been arrested for allegedly lighting a
sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning u then
watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the New YorkAs top
cop called oone of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly
commit.o

The savage killing u which happened at about 7:30 a.m. on an idling F
train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station u shocked commuters,
MTA workers and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who said Sunday that the heinous crime otook the life of an innocent New Yorker.o

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Police released images of the suspect in the fatal subway fire.
DCPI

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The man allegedly watched the victim burn after the attack.
DCPI

oAs the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car a and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victimAs clothing, which
became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,o Tisch said at a press conference.

Patrolling cops smelled and saw the smoke, then found the flame-covered
woman, the commissioner said.

They extinguished the blaze, but the woman died at the scene.

Horrifying video obtained by The Post showed the suspect calmly looking on
as flames consumed the still-unidentified woman, who stood inside the open subway car doors.

A transit cop walked by, and seemed to pull out a radio and say something
as they continued down the platform.

After the cop passed, the suspect got up as if to walk away u then the
clip cut off.

In another video, cops yelled to the gathered crowd, oDid anybody see anything? Did anybody see anything?o as smoke poured from inside the
subway car.

The suspect brazenly sat on a nearby bench as cops huddled around, pulling
his hood up at one point just before an officer spoke to him.

oDo me a favor? Walk down there,o the cop said, motioning down the
platform with his radio. oI need this space cleared up.o

The man stood up, then left the scene.

oUnbeknownst 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,o Tisch said.

oThe body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look at the killer.o

Later that day, three high-schoolers called police to say they saw the man
at the Jay and York Street station on the F line, according to Tisch and
the NYPDAs Chief of Transit, Joseph Gulotta.

When transit officers responded they found the suspect already riding
another train u and wearing the same gray hoodie, wool hat and paint- splattered pants he had on when he allegedly torched the woman.

Cops called ahead and halted the train at Herald Square. Then, they went
from car to car until they found the suspect and arrested him, police officials said.

Tisch said the suspect had a lighter in his pocket when he was picked up.

oI want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,o Tisch said.
oThey saw something, and they said something, and they did something.o

Gulotta echoed her comments, calling the arrest oamazing work done by the public and the police working together.o

Police believe the suspect did not know the victim before he attacked her.

The suspect entered the country and was detained by border patrol agents
in Arizona in June 2018 u and so far authorities have not found a past criminal record for him in New York City, law enforcement sources said.

Authorities were still working to confirm whether he is in the country legally, the sources said.

On Sunday morning, cops, firefighters and medical examiner personnel clad
in white Tyvek suits combed the tracks for evidence after they cordoned
off the area.

Around 1 p.m., authorities carried a body bag containing the womanAs
corpse out of the train and placed it on a gurney. Then they wheeled it
over to a medical examiner van and moved it inside.

oItAs incredible,o one shocked commuter said as he witnessed the sad proceedings.

MTA workers were similarly stunned by the savage killing.

oIt just looked like all the clothes were burnt off,o one worker told The Post. oI was just walking by. The cops was there already. I didnAt see her
in flames but thatAs what I heard. It was out. They shut the lights off
[in the car] so nobody could see.

oThat sut is crazy u itAs only three days until Christmas,o he added.
oThatAs messed up.o

Other commuters stopped in their tracks to take in the stunning scene.

oItAs scary,o Alex Gureyev, a 39-year-old construction manager from
Brooklyn, told The Post.

oItAs going downhill a bit,o he continued. oEverybody keeps saying itAs
going back to the seventies. ItAs a frequent occurrence u not like this, setting people on fire u but like the mugging, the killings, the fighting,
the shootings, theyAre really common nowadays. [ItAs] very bad.o

The poor womanAs fiery death came just as Gov. Kathy Hochul sent 250 more National Guard troops into the Big AppleAs subway system for the holiday
rush u swelling its $100 million subway deployment to 1,000 troops.

Hochul has insisted that her controversial March deployment of National
Guard troops into the subways led to a dramatic drop in transit crime.

But despite the governorAs efforts, subway murders rose by at least 60%
this year, according to data collected in September.

Eight people were killed on subway cars or in stations as of Sept. 8 u up
from just five during the same period last year, NYPD data showed.

And the F train terror was just one of several assaults during a bloody 24-hour period for the city underground.

Just after midnight Sunday, an argument between five men on a southbound 7 train at Woodside Avenue and 61st Street in Queens turned deadly when a 69-year-old man stabbed one person in the chest and another in the face, police said.

Authorities took the conductor to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he
was in stable condition.

The suspect was not arrested in the attack, police added.

The man who was stabbed in the chest died at the hospital, police said.
The suspect was in custody awaiting charges.

Several hours later, at about 4:30 a.m., a northbound D train was put out
of service after an angry passenger threw a can at the 38-year-old
conductor, police said.

https://nypost.com/2024/12/22/us-news/horror-video-shows-suspect-watching- woman-burn-to-death-in-f-train-car-after-he-allegedly-set-her-on-fire/
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