Is the Arsonist Back?
Monday night at about 11:30 I heard sirens and saw fire trucks on Park bet Carlton and Vandy but couldn't see/wasn't all that interested in what was going on. Walking down sterling on Tuesday around 6 AM, I saw a burnt-out car. Looked like someone had set a pile of paper recycling on fire, which had set the car ablaze. No camera phone, so I didn't take any pix.
Comments
-
Tuesday morning there was a burnt car and garbage pile on the corner of Sterling right by Vanderbilt...
-
Sounds like you two are talking about the same incident.
-
Thursday or Friday evening someone set a pile of trash or mattress or something ablaze on the Washington Avenue sidewalk between St Marks and Prospect Place.
Is/was there "The Arsonist"? We just moved in a month ago. Thanks. -
Over the last couple of years there have been several trash fires which were set close to cars in PH and in PS. Not so much that I would call it a rash of incidents, but definitely more than one or two. Search the boards for more info.
-
Another suspicious trash fire this morning. In front of building on NW corner of Sterling and Underhill.
-
Saw this fire just as I was leaving Hot Bird around midnight. It was in the McDonald's dumpster. The NYFD was just arriving.
-
Again tonight. Two fire trucks on Underhill at Park Place, firemen looked into a silver SUV for a while. Then somebody on a skateboard comes up and says something about another fire and one of the other trucks goes off.
-
F'n annoying! Someone's got to find this kid. Assuming it's the same person, this is the description I got from a neighbor who saw him light one of the fires last year:
Young white kid, abt 16 years old. Grungy/punkish look. Skinny w blond dreadlocks.
Be on the lookout. -
There were a pile of branches set on fire on Butler Place about midnight.
And then, the hydrant broke as NYFD was disconnecting it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/subwayknitter/4668700949/
The fires seem to be happening in about the same area as last year, so I'm willing to bet that it's the same kid. Maybe he's got a later curfew than last year, because I seem to remember that they were happening well before midnight. -
For the record, we had a dumpster fire on St Marks between Underhill and Washington in front of the new building on the south side of the street about a week ago or so
-
So it sounds like this guy's been striking between 11:30pm and midnight, often in the general area of Underhill between Sterling and St. Marks.
Occasionally meandering a few blocks to one side or another, but perhaps mainly on Underhill.
Perhaps we can get some eyes on Underhill around 11:30pm some evenings, looking for the following:"Young white kid, abt 16 years old. Grungy/punkish look. Skinny w blond dreadlocks."
-
I'm sensing another iPhone-thief style neighborhood watch.
I'm wondering if he's using an accelerant with some of these fires. There's no way, not without a lot of kindling and time, that those branches in front of our house could have ignited and burned so thoroughly. -
BKChickie wrote: I'm sensing another iPhone-thief style neighborhood watch.
Exactly. These folks may bolt at the sight of a squad car coming way down the block, but there's nothing to stop silent, careful neighborhood eyes from gathering multiple reports and independent confirmations of detailed info for later use by the police. -
BKChickie wrote: I'm wondering if he's using an accelerant with some of these fires. There's no way, not without a lot of kindling and time, that those branches in front of our house could have ignited and burned so thoroughly.
Ah, yes...forgot to mention that. The kid did have some sort of accelerant in the incident the neighbor witnessed lasy year. It was a dumpster fire. Apparently it took two tries to get it going (kid came back a minute or so later after watching the fire fail from across the street).
I'm definitely on the lookout. -
BKChickie wrote: I'm sensing another iPhone-thief style neighborhood watch.
I'm in -
arches wrote: Ah, yes...forgot to mention that. The kid did have some sort of accelerant in the incident the neighbor witnessed lasy year.
Wasn't last year's dumpster fire (at least one of them) in a dumpster at Butler and Sterling? Me thinks that this kid stays close to home. He has a distinctive appearance, and someone must have an idea of who he is.
He seems to know how to light fires in places which are not directly watched by others, e.g. on an area of sidewalk that's between two buildings, in the berm, etc.
Wondering if he hangs around the scene when the fire department shows up.
I also seem to remember that the fires stopped once that description was posted here. Coincidence? -
Yes, that dumpster was right on the corner of Butler and Sterling. There's actually a security camera right there. Also, the fire at Sterling and Vanderbilt was right in front of a camera (which has since been upgraded from the looks of it.) So he's either pretty dumb, pretty bold...or he has faith in the limitations of security cameras.
-
Alright, how's this for annoying? I performed my civic duties with an extended stoll around the neighboorhood in search of fireboy, only to come home and find that the tree in front of my building just fell victim to the infamous tree breaker in my absence!!!! Arghhh!!
-
Who is the tree breaker? Is it the same person as the shrub swiper? I saw a note on Park place about an individual who was thought to be mentally disturbed and swiped flowers from area ways, then dumped them somewhere else. Someone just grabbed a small tree from my neighbor's stoop last night.
-
jml wrote: Who is the tree breaker? Is it the same person as the shrub swiper? I saw a note on Park place about an individual who was thought to be mentally disturbed and swiped flowers from area ways, then dumped them somewhere else. Someone just grabbed a small tree from my neighbor's stoop last night.
All about tree breaker: http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=56979&start=90
And yes, he's the same guy who hit park place (think it was trees, not flowers though...if we're talking about the same incident). -
jml wrote: Who is the tree breaker?
Thanks for asking this, and Arches, thanks for answering with that other thread. I had no idea that guy was out there, but I have noticed the odd broken branch here and there.
I do not know what this guy looks like. Do you think he's related to the plant thefts that neighbors are complaining about (via signs on fences) on Park Place between Flatbush and Vanderbilt? -
BKChickie wrote: I do not know what this guy looks like. Do you think he's related to the plant thefts that neighbors are complaining about (via signs on fences) on Park Place between Flatbush and Vanderbilt?
Yeah, pretty sure its all one guy. The descriptions on the sign match the description in that other thread. Although i don't think he's stealing anything in the traditional sense...its just some sort of crazy senseless vandalism.
Anyway, back to fires...nothing since Thursday night? -
arches wrote: Anyway, back to fires...nothing since Thursday night?
Nothing near me. Two things: either this kid takes the weekends off, or (once again) we start talking about him here and he backs away. Dunno. Or, maybe it's just a coincidence and we'll all witness a huge conflagration tomorrow night. Or, I just wanted to use the word "conflagration" in a sentence. -
Subject: 6/15/2010 AM - Car Torched Corner of Park Pl. & Vanderbi
I saw a torched car on the corner of Park Place and Vanderbilt this AM when on my way to work. It was right in front of the dry cleaners on the corner. I live on Park and walked my dogs up to Vanderbilt last night just before midnight and saw nothing. So sometime between midnight and 7am that car was torched. It was completely destroyed and there were two Parks Department workers there who were telling us it was the fourth of its kind for our neighborhood. They said there were a bunch of kids taking cardboard, lighting it on fire and sticking it into the gas tanks to blow the cars up. I called the 77th Precinct and they said they would let the patrol cars know about it and that the only other thing I could do was attend the community board hearings the first Monday of each month. Looking for any additional information out there. -
Yep saw the completely torched Denali this morning also. Its definitely at least the third time its happened in the neighborhood. The last time on Sterling, the car was directly in front of a security camera -- was there any investigation done on this incident? I wonder if the cleaners on Park & Vanderbilt has a camera as well? Something needs to be done to catch these kids before they explode a car and people get hurt. Lighting gas tanks on fire is no small act of vandalism.
-
was it the maroon one that is always parked there? damn. and yes, we heard all the explosions from a block away around 3:30am. damn.
-
Saw a man with gun (presumably a detective) dusting for prints around 11am.
-
jml wrote: Saw a man with gun (presumably a detective) dusting for prints around 11am.
I heard a rumor this morning that there was a gun fight near the car. I checked gothamist and didn't see anything on the crime map. -
Subject: Frustrating
Last year, I saw the guy that was doing this. He lit a dumpster on fire next to my building, and then stood back and hid in the trees. A passerby put it out, and he came back and lit it again.
By the time the police and fire trucks showed up, he was gone - having lit a trash can on his way. I told the police I saw him, but they didn't want a description or anything.
So in case anyone wonders:
Average height kid (5'7"?), perhaps 16 or so, with blonde hair and really pasty white skin. Pretty thin and gaunt looking. His hair was straight and a little long at the time.
--A -
everyone's description is remarkably consistent.
closely matches what I wrote on June 14th here: http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58021
Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 40K All Categories
- 27.1K Neighborhoods
- 5.1K Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- 7.1K Prospect Heights
- 2.3K Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
- 8K Park Slope
- 549 Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
- 442 Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
- 657 BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)
- 151 Red Hook
- 104 Gowanus
- 304 Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst
- 130 Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay
- 270 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown
- 598 Windsor Terrace / Kensington
- 673 Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park
- 749 Brooklyn and Beyond
- 6.3K Stuff
- 86 Brooklyn Back When
- 1.2K Brooklyn Pets
- 257 Brooklyn Kids
- 241 Brooklyn Eats
- 51 Brooklyn Booze
- 3.6K The Lounge / Random Stuff
- 611 Brooklyn Politics
- 122 Brooklyn Sports and Fitness
- 111 Brooklyn Photos
- 339 Site Issues
- 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6.2K Listings
- 1.1K APARTMENTS and REAL ESTATE
- 1.3K Sales Openings Events
- 2.3K The Classifieds