Posted on 09/17/2018 8:47:18 PM PDT by EinNYC
More than 100 cars burst into flames at a Brooklyn shopping plaza early Monday, and cops have arrested the man they believe started the blaze — a furious firebug who sources say had revenge on his mind.
The roaring inferno sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky and injured 22 firefighters and six civilians.
Police arrested Avon Stephens, 23, Monday night and charged him with arson. Sources said he made statements admitting to starting the blaze.
A police source said the suspect periodically slept at the garage and had been repeatedly shooed away by mall security.
Cops believe Stephens — caught on surveillance footage near the conflagration — might have been angry after getting kicked out of his favorite snoozing spot, the sources said.
“Outstanding job by #NYPD Strategic Response Group Officers Domarecki & Reiff with the apprehension of an individual wanted for questioning in regards to today’s 7 alarm fire in the Kings Plaza Mall parking garage,” the NYPD Special Operations Bureau announced on its Twitter account Monday night.
The seven-alarm blaze broke out about 8:25 a.m. on the second level of the parking garage at Kings Plaza in Mill Basin.
Up to 120 cars were ignited by the fire, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The cars were being stored there by a local Mercedes Benz dealership.
It took more more than 250 firefighters just over two hours to bring the fast-moving fire under control. The blaze was so large it forced the mall to close for the day.
“We don’t know yet what started the fire,” said Commissioner Nigro. “It created a huge amount of black smoke, there was a large amount of fire confronting our people.”
He said the flames were confined to the second-level of the garage — but there might have been additional damage to the structure itself.
“Our members are conducting an examination ... it’s certainly stable right now,” Nigro said. “If we have to go further, we’ll bring in engineers from the Department of Buildings.”
One passerby said she heard a series of blasts from inside the burning garage. “I’m right by Kings Plaza and it’s literally on fire,” a Twitter user named Kells wrote. “I hear explosions and stuff it’s insane.”
The large popping noises people heard during the blaze was likely tires exploding, Nigro said.
Of the 28 total victims hurt in the fire, a few were hospitalized and the rest treated at the scene.
The heavy humidity created a suffocating atmosphere for the firefighters, according to the FDNY.
Although the sides of the parking garage were open, the acrid haze didn’t ventilate well — and several firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, Nigro said.
A security camera at the parking garage caught the main suspect leaving the scene shortly before the fire erupted. Cops released his photos Monday afternoon. The man was described as black, last seen in a white shirt, dark pants and dark-colored shoes.
Detectives had initially suspected a disgruntled car washer for the dealership started the blaze intentionally.
But they later zeroed in on the man seen in the security footage.
Mace Rich, a company which owns the mall, could not be reached for comment.
The Mercedes-Benz dealership was not the only car company that stored vehicles in the mall.
A manager at Brooklyn Chrysler just a few blocks away from the burning parking garage said his business also used the facility to hold vehicles. “We have 600 hundred cars stored there,” said the worker, who asked to remain anonymous.
“We haven’t been able to get to them. We don’t know what we lost,” he said, adding that the Brooklyn Chrysler cars were held on the structure’s upper levels.
He’s not going to have to worry about where he’s sleeping for the next few decades.
At least he wasn’t wearing NIKE shoes!
AVON CALLING!
Where was Judge Kavanaugh when this happened?
Avon. Calling.
At least his mom didn’t name him “sue”
well, he IS wearing his pants right to be popular in prison.
What escapes me is, should the need arise, how do they think they can outrun the police ?
In a just world the chronically homeless would be in mental health hospitals as one would have to be mentally ill to refuse government housing or be kicked out of a government program. It would make cities safer and put a major dent in urban crime.
Good place to store Hellcats.
Maybe he’ll get a Nike endorsement
Just Burn It
He may get a Nike endorsement
Just Burn It
People who start fires should be burned at the stake.
Give them their own medicine.
Of course, it was the Liberals in the ‘70s through the ‘90s that led the crusade to close the mental hospitals. They were, they said, “abusive” to their residents and, one must assume, limited their potential use in Liberal “projects.”
Yep, knew it. Complete with goofy hair and pants on the ground.
Avon! Har! Well it’s different than the typical Duhshaun, Shuckuan or Fukquan.
“Just one brain addled piece of ghetto garbage did all this.”
Let’s give credit where it’s due - it was their MAYOR, who, in showing ‘compassion’, will not allow excrement to be removed from private property at the risk of trespassing charges...that’s why all they could do was try to shoe him away, like would be done with an annoying animal.
They could have piped in classical or C&W music. It keeps hood rats away.
Let's hope so.
Not that I want to feed and house the (fill in the blank with whatever word you wish) for the rest of his life, but he's too dangerous to be let run loose in society.
I thought it was all cabs and those subway things......Too crowded to drive.
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