The Brooklyn man who allegedly confessed to cops that he killed a 73-year-old woman by setting her on fire in a Prospect Heights elevator was arraigned yesterday—and more details about that alleged confession came to light. Police claim that Jerome Isaac boasted at the time of his arrest that he would have gotten away with the murder of Deloris Gillespie if he hadn't turned himself in: “If the video wasn’t there, you would still be looking for me,” he declared, despite having burned half his face during the attack. more ›

The Queens man whom police say has "implicated himself" in a series of Molotov cocktail attacks at various locations wanted to take out “as many Muslims and Arabs as possible” at the Al-Khoei Foundation, an Islamic cultural center in Jamaica, Queens. Why did he choose the center as his target, out of all the other Islamic meeting places in town? He says because they refused to let him use the bathroom. The flaming Starbucks Frappuccino bottle which Ray Lengend allegedly threw at the center did minimal damage, but it could have been worse—sources tell the Daily News that Lengend's original plan was to toss all five of his firebombs from the balcony of the center onto the crowd below. more ›

A Queens man has been arrested in connection to a string of arson attacks in Jamaica, Queens and on Long Island Sunday night. Police say Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, has "made incriminating statements" about throwing Molotov cocktails fashioned out of Starbucks Frappuccino bottles at private residences, a deli, and an Islamic center. "The individual is implicating himself in each of the five firebombing cases, citing personal grievances with each location," police spokesman Paul Browne told reporters last night. See, it's never too late to get swept up in the Festivus spirit! more ›

[Update Below] The family of the 73-year-old woman who died after she was set on fire in a Prospect Heights elevator earlier this month still haven't been able to bury her—and even the people who pledged to help them haven't done so. The family of Deloris Gillespie, who was allegedly killed by Jerome Isaac, spoke out yesterday about the hardships they've gone through since the horrific crime took place: "This family has been victimized twice. First by a madman and now by a gentleman who has shown depraved indifference to their plight," said Councilmember Letitia James, referring to a Manhattan hedge fund manager and his friend who had pledged to help pay for a memorial service today, but never gave the money. more ›

The Brooklyn man who allegedly confessed to cops that he killed a 73-year-old woman by setting her on fire in a Prospect Heights elevator has been formally charged with murder. Jerome Isaac was indicted today on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Deloris Gillespie, the woman who he allegedly killed over a money dispute. more ›

Yesterday, a Brooklyn woman was burned alive in the elevator of her Prospect Heights apartment building in a horrific crime that was captured on surveillance video. Police say that they now have a suspect in custody for the murder of 64-year-old Doris Gillespie. The man came into a transit police station close to the apartment building where the attack took place early Sunday morning—he was "reeking of gasoline," according to cops. more ›

The police say a woman died after being set on fire in her Prospect Heights apartment building's elevator yesterday afternoon—and they say her killer was caught on video. According to the Post, the surveillance video shows "the suspect was waiting on the fifth floor and ambushed his victim as the elevator doors opened. He sprayed the woman with a flammable liquid and then set her aflame and ran off, leaving her to die in agony, police said." And a resident said, “She was screaming at the top of her lungs." more ›

A blaze that fire marshals deemed to have been purposefully set at the Flea Market Cafe on Monday in the East Village defies the explanation of the restaurant's manager. "I might be a little naïve, but I don't really know anyone that would do that," manager Harveen Bonnet tells DNAinfo, presumably as Goodfellas sits dangerously low on his Netflix queue. more ›

A fire at the Flea Market Cafe yesterday afternoon has been deemed "incendiary" by a police spokesman, although the incident is still under investigation. According to the Local East Village, an employee at nearby Nino's Pizzeria was telling a reporter that he saw the owner of the restaurant "trying to put out a stack of burning napkins" shortly before the fire escalated, but his recounting of what he saw was "abruptly cut off by a woman who he said was the wife of the owner." Authorities were reportedly concentrating on three containers containing "flammable liquids." more ›

East Village couple Adam Berk and Karen Kushkin were out celebrating a $2,850 default judgment against their landlord, Steven Croman, of Croman Realty, in January when someone broke into their ground floor apartment, burglarized it, and set it on fire. Their beloved Labrador, Foster, died a week later as a result of smoke inhalation, and although the couple isn't directly accusing Croman of arson, they tell the Post he still deserves the blame. more ›

Last month, an ostracized Hasidic family in Rockland County were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body, and his attacker, 18-year-old Shaul Spitzer, was also hospitalized for burns. Now, Rottenberg is speaking out about the incident, the cloistered Orthodox community, and the Grand Rebbe who has "brainwashed" his followers: "They are so isolated that they have no idea what is going on in the world outside. These people feel they are the world." more ›

An 11-year-old boy was arrested and charged with arson today in connection with a fire which destroyed a house in Long Island yesterday. Detectives say that the boy, who was not named, used a Bic lighter to ignite plastic packing material in a garage in Hicksville, starting a big suburban fire which ultimately displaced 12 people. more ›

Earlier this week, chaos reigned for one ostracized Hasidic family when they were attacked by another orthodox Jew who attempted to burn down their house, all because the family had started to go to a different synagogue. In the end, 43-year-old father of four Aron Rottenberg suffered burns on half his body. Yesterday, his lawyer held a press conference in front of the house, and ended up in a verbal confrontation with another orthodox Jew who shouted over him, "It's the wrong thing to go against the rabbi." Watch video from LoHud below: more ›

Mere hours after we excoriated the yellow-bellied teenagers who burned down PS 29's playground comes the news that a Saint Ann's student has stood up to take responsibility. (You're welcome, Cobble Hill). The Daily News reports that 16-year-old Max Laytan turned himself into police earlier today. In his defense, we assume he's co-captain of Saint Ann's legendary Public School Playground Burning Team, which last year really wailed on Dalton in the semis. more ›

Over the weekend, a fire broke out at 510 61st Street in Brooklyn, injuring about 40 civilians and firefighters, and taking 138 firefighters 2 1/2 hours to get the blaze under control. Now, 56-year-old Chiu Tsang has been arrested for arson in connection with the fire. more ›

Yesterday, a Bronx fire claimed the lives of a baby, a man and a woman, and now it turns out the man, Vincent Cordero, had stabbed his wife before setting fire to the Morris Heights apartment. The fire then killed their one-year-old daughter Keity and Cordero later died of smoke inhalation. A neighbor, Erick Carpio, told the Post, "There were flames everywhere. I tried to grab the child out of the crib, but I couldn't." more ›

Angelo Monderoy—who was 18 when he was arrested and charged for breaking into a Crown Heights apartment and fatally setting a cat on fire—faced court yesterday. Investigators allegedly found a half-filled container of lighter fluid in his backpack, and Brooklyn ADA Joshua Charlton say Monderoy and an accomplice brought the cat into the apartment where they "stepped on it, put lighter fluid on it and lit it," reports the Post. The injuries from the fire led to the death of the cat, named Tommy Two Times. more ›

Trevor Mann, the 26-year-old who reportedly held his 2-month-old son hostage while waving a burning Christmas tree branch over his head, insists that the cops got it all wrong. Cops said he threatened to hurt his son if the police didn't leave, but Mann said from the psychiatric ward at Bellevue Hospital that he told the cops he wasn't going to hurt his son. Mann's girlfriend also blames the infant's injuries on the police. Mann's son suffered a broken arm, and his girlfriend told the Daily News, "[Cops] pulled him out of his arms and broke his arm." more ›

We're sensing a trend; if someone runs a red light, chances are they're up to something much worse. A 26-year-old father has been arrested after running a red light, leading cops on a chase that ended in his holding his 2-month-old son "hostage" and setting his family's Christmas tree on fire. Tredon Mann was charged with felony assault, assaulting an officer and arson after the debacle, which began last night with him running a red light at a Flatbush intersection and smashing his car into another van. more ›

There will be no jail time for the Harvard Law School grad who "doesn't remember" drunkenly setting fire to the chapel that houses remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Overriding objections from prosecutors who wanted at least a one year sentence, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller offered Brian Schroeder a plea deal yesterday. If he stays out of trouble for one year and pays $25,000 in restitution, he'll be off the hook. "I don't see any point in ruining another life—that is, Mr. Schroeder's," said Judge Uviller yesterday. more ›

Videographer Daniel Phillips faces up to 25 years in prison after his conviction yesterday for setting a fire to a West 48th Street apartment building. Prosecutors say Phillips was stinking drunk and refused to leave a friend's party at the building in May 2009. When he was finally kicked out, surveillance footage caught him approaching garbage cans with a lighter in hand, and then running away seconds later as a fire began to blaze. Apparently the stuff he left inside wasn't as important as letting his friends know that if he can't party, no one can. more ›

Bed bugs are unnerving and disgusting to even contemplate. Which is probably why public housing building cleaner Miriam Ortiz decided to set fire to a mattress she suspected might be infested with bedbugs. But it's also a public safety hazard. The Daily News reports the 36-year-old was hit with "felony arson and reckless endangerment charges... for the Sept. 8 blaze in the Manhattanville houses." A source said she had a "fear of bedbugs" and was lazy—instead of disposing of the mattress properly (we imagine it'd involving wrapping it with plastic and bringing to the trash), she just used a lighter to destroy the mattress in a "partially-enclosed hallway" on the 10th floor of one of the buildings. more ›

Firefighters were called to a building on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens yesterday afternoon to battle a fire that started on the third floor in a private immigration office. But once the fire was put out, police found a man in his 40s with his throat slashed, leading them to suspect arson and possibly a botched murder-suicide. Police pulled a second man from the building, and suspected him of killing the first. more ›

Remember that Harvard Law School grad who "doesn't remember" allegedly setting fire to the chapel that houses remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? Brian Schroeder was back in court yesterday begging for mercy, which prosecutors are not inclined to give. Assistant DA Lucy Lang told Justice Rena Uviller said she'd only consider a plea deal that includes a minimum of 1-to-3 years in prison and $25,000 in restitution, the Daily News reports. Lang also went into detail about the appalling act of arson, which took place over the course of two hours. more ›

The FDNY announced that fire marshals arrested a woman in connection with last week's two-alarm fire in the West Farms section of the Bronx that left four people injured, including a toddler. The FDNY says Kristen Nixon, 30, had been squatting at the Park Avenue building (which was illegally subdivided into single-room units) when she allegedly set the blaze as revenge after a fight: "She returned the morning of the fire with a flammable liquid, which she poured in the basement hallway outside the door of a bedroom where all four of the victims were staying." She was charged with arson, reckless endangerment and four counts of first-degree assault and faces up to 25 years if convicted. more ›

It took 60 firefighters to extinguish an early morning fire that engulfed a Domino's Pizza on Boston Road in the Bronx in August, but no one was injured. On Sunday, September 5th at 4:42 a.m., another Domino's on White Plains Road went up in flames, and once again it took 60 firefighters to bring the fire under control. But nobody was hurt, and the borough's intestines were unburdened of one more Domino's location. The anti-Domino's vigilante behind the fires melted back into the night, leaving Gotham's sinister "pizza" cartel wondering where he'd strike next. more ›

After battling a fire at a Teaneck, NJ home on Tuesday night, firefighters found the body of the owner, Joan Davis. Yesterday, it was determined that the 74-year-old was murdered and that the fire was set to cover up the killing. A neighbor told WABC 7, "Now that I hear it's a homicide, I'm shocked. In Teaneck? It doesn't happen here." more ›