NYPD: Man Arrested After Setting Fire To Pew Of Upper East Side Church
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man has been arrested after police said he set fire to a pew inside an Upper East Side church.
It happened just before 1 p.m. Saturday at the Church of Heavenly Rest on East 90th Street.
Church officials told police that a man walked into the church and started to stack pew cushions and some paper he had been tearing up onto the pew and then lit it on fire, authorities said.
When asked what he was doing, he said, "Don't worry, it's a New Year's fire," according to police. He then broke a glass window inside the vestibule with what is believed to be a paper weight, police said.
Police were called and when officers arrived, they apprehended the man as he tried to run out the church's back door, authorities said.
The FDNY also responded and put out the fire. Police released a photo of the damaged pew.
The suspect, identified as Regis De Foucauld, was arrested on arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment charges, police said. He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital for an evaluation.