NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected of setting fire to 11 police vehicles in Brooklyn last week — marking the first of two such arson incidents in the past week — was previously detained at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and is also sought in connection with vandalizing a statue at Columbia University last fall, according to the police.
The NYPD distributed photos and a video of the suspect, identified as a 21-year-old New Jersey resident, on Wednesday, seeking assistance from the public to locate him. As of Thursday, he was still at large.
Police are also investigating whether he is also responsible for attempting to set fire Wednesday to a police van in another part of Brooklyn.
Regarding the initial attack, authorities reported that a man scaled a gate around 1 a.m. on June 12, placing fire starters on the windshields, hoods, and tires of several vehicles in a police parking area located about a block from a police station in Brooklyn’s Bushwick area.
The man then fled on foot, police said, citing surveillance video they said placed the 21-year-old suspect at the crime scene. None of the vehicles were occupied and no injuries were reported.
On Wednesday, police said, a fire starter was found on a police van parked outside a diner in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the device was similar but not the same brand as the ones used in Bushwick.
After last week’s fire, Mayor Eric Adams suggested that the suspect was connected to protests in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda. Police, however, have not made that connection.
The suspect has two pending criminal cases in the city, according to court records.
On May 28, he was arrested in Manhattan and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for allegedly obstructing traffic and refusing to move. In May 2024, he was arrested in Queens and charged with assault and resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
He has yet to be charged in the arson attack or the Columbia University vandalism last September. There, Kenny said, he disguised himself as a student and caused over $1,000 of damage to a campus statue.
