(Washington Insider Magazine) – A woman is being sought by the NYPD on suspicion of setting a fire at a squatter residence. The fire killed one man, injured two and left dozens homeless in the Bronx.
A woman is being sought by the NYPD on suspicion of setting a fire at a squatter residence that killed one man, injured two and left dozens homeless in the Bronx.
New York police released photos of the woman, who was caught on surveillance footage Sunday entering the illegally converted residential building on Evergreen Ave. near Westchester Ave., in the Soundview neighborhood. Shortly before the tragedy, the suspect entered with something in her hand, possibly a bottle, and left without it, police said.
The fire, which started with an accelerant, tore through the two-story home around 1:55 p.m. Sunday. Two men, ages 30 and 32, suffered burns and smoke inhalation but were able to get out of the house.
Person Identified by Firefighters
A third person, who was not immediately identified, was discovered by firefighters unconscious on the second floor and pronounced dead at the scene.
The fire spread to an adjoining building before more than 100 firefighters could put out the flames, the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) said Monday. None of the sites were determined to be safe for occupancy and the agency issued vacation orders for the properties.
“It was a road to hell there,” a neighbor told the Daily News on Monday night. “A pension, more like a crack house.” “It was a drug place and people are in and out of there all the time all the time,” another witness said.
Records indicate that the house where the fire started should have been empty. The DOB issued a full eviction order in 2018. But it was operating as an illegal guesthouse, records show.
The agency has issued building owners multiple violations that have resulted in fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The displaced residents were being relocated by the American Red Cross, the DOB said in a statement. These are about 17 people from 5 families, according to NY1 News.
Anyone with information about the requested woman should call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Also through crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
In a similar case, in November Sugerys Ramírez (40) was burned alive inside an apartment she was squatting in Brooklyn. Lashawn Duffie, 28, was arrested last week as a suspect in the homicide.
This article is written by EI Diario.
