VIDEO: Firebug chucks flaming cans of liquid at Manhattan subway riders
Cops are asking the public’s help tracking down a firebug caught-on-video chucking a makeshift Molotov cocktail at a group of strangers waiting for a No. 1 train in Chelsea, cops said Wednesday.
The lanky attacker was caught on MTA surveillance cameras holding two metal containers filled with a flaming liquid inside the W. 28th St. subway stop about 7:40 p.m. Feb. 5.
He’s recorded yelling at someone near the turnstiles before he chucks one of the two cans at a group waiting for a downtown train. No one was hit by the burning liquid in the unprovoked attack.
The would-be arsonist ran off. No arrests have been made.
Police on Wednesday released the footage of the flame thrower and asked the public’s help identifying him and tracking him down. He’s described as Black, in his mid-30s, about 6-feet and 150 pounds with a slender build. He was wearing a grey hoodie under a black jacket, black pants and black sandals.
The bizarre incident comes as the city faces a 13% jump in assaults in the city’s transit system. As of Sunday, cops had investigated 110 assaults in the subway this year, compared to 97 by this time last year.
To combat the uptick, the NYPD has added 1,000 more officers to the subway system. And Gov. Hochul last week ordered the National Guard to conduct bag checks at major transit hubs.
Anyone with information on the firebug is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
