An 18-year-old man has been apprehended and charged in connection with the horrific act of setting a homeless individual on fire while he slept in a New York City subway, authorities announced on Thursday.
The suspect, Hiram Carrero, hailing from Manhattan, now faces multiple charges including attempted murder, three counts of assault, criminal mischief, arson, and reckless endangerment, according to the New York Police Department.
The arrest follows the release of a surveillance video this week that helped identify the alleged perpetrator of the unsettling attack that occurred on Monday.
The shocking incident unfolded when the suspect reportedly got on the No. 3 train at Penn Station around 3 a.m. Upon noticing a 56-year-old man asleep on the train, he allegedly set the man on fire before fleeing the scene. The victim sustained severe burns but is expected to recover.
Investigators said the suspect boarded the No. 3 train at Penn Station just after 3 a.m. when he saw the 56-year-old man sleeping.
He lit the homeless man on fire and then left the train, police said. The victim was badly burned but is expected to survive.
NYPD officers stand at the subway stairs at Penn Station in New York. (Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images)
However, he was so badly scorched that authorities found skin on one of the seats on the train, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
The footage released by the NYPD shows a man wearing a gray jacket and black hat opening a door to the subway platform.
In December 2024, a woman was killed after she was set on fire in an unprovoked attack on a NYC subway train in Brooklyn.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, a previously deported immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested hours after the horrific incident.
