Woman dies after being set on fire while sleeping on New York City subway; Person of interest taken into custody, police say
NEW YORK -- A woman died after she was set on fire while sleeping on a New York City subway car on Sunday morning, according to police.
A person of interest in the attack in Brooklyn was taken into custody later in the day, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at an early evening news conference.
Police have not yet been able to identify the victim.
Police said the person of interest came to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018. So far, no charges have been filed, but investigators are still questioning him and trying to determine a motive.
"I want you to know that this apprehension was another in what has become a series of joint efforts involving different crimes between the police and the public we serve," Tisch said. "In today's case, we were able to get incredibly clear and detailed images of the suspect from the initial incident. Then, we asked the media to broadcast those images far and wide so we could use the viewing public as a force multiplier — and New Yorkers came through again."
Using images obtained from security cameras on the train, police and the public had a very clear picture of the man they were looking for. Tisch credited three high school-aged New Yorkers for seeing the person of interest and calling 911, leading to his capture.
The NYPD had been offering a $10,000 reward for information on the incident.
NYPD describes how the attack happened
The person of interest was described as 5-foot-6, 150 pounds, approximately 25 to 30 years old, and was seen wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, grey wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots at the time of the attack.
Tisch said the man boarded an F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at around 7:30 a.m., approached the sleeping woman, and then lit her on fire with what was believed to be a lighter, adding the victim's clothes became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.
Police said there appeared to be no interaction between the victim and her attacker before she was lit on fire.
Tisch said nearby officers saw and smelled smoke and immediately went over to investigate and with the help of an MTA worker used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. EMS arrived shortly thereafter and pronounced the woman dead on the train.
The person of interest stayed at the scene and was spotted sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car. He was later apprehended without incident on another train that was stopped at Herald Square, Tisch said.
The person of interest was found with a lighter in his pocket, Tisch added.
"This is amazing work done by the public and the police working together. Once again, someone saw something, we got it out through technology in numerous ways, and we were able to make a quick arrest on this nothing less than heinous crime that occurred in our subway system," NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
