NYPD vehicles set on fire in Brooklyn parking lot, police say
Several NYPD vehicles were set on fire during the early morning hours Thursday in Bushwick, Brooklyn, according to police.
Police said it appeared to be a case of arson and criminal mischief, and they are searching for a suspect.
The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. inside a gated NYPD parking lot near the corner of Central and DeKalb avenues, roughly a block away from the 83rd Precinct.
The FDNY responded, and the flames were extinguished. No injuries were reported.
The NYPD vehicles now sit as shells of what they once were. In total, 11 vehicles were damaged.
A van and multiple SUVs were among those damaged, including several marked as police vehicles and two that were unmarked. Some were charred beyond recognition, while others looked like their windows were shattered.
Mayor Eric Adams said three other vehicles were found with fire-starters on them that did not ignite. A torch lighter was also found at the scene.
"It takes a coward to burn vehicles"
Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch went to the lot Thursday to survey the damage in person.
"It takes courage to protect this city. It takes a coward to burn vehicles," Adams said.
The mayor said the NYPD has linked the attack to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests taking place nationwide.
When asked what evidence they have of that, Adams replied, "there's a clear indication that someone had firsthand knowledge of this and taking credit for it, and that's going to be part of our investigation."
"The message is a very loud and clear one: If you destroy our property, you assault our police officers, we are going to use every authority and resource we have to find you and bring you to justice," the mayor said. "This is not acceptable. We've stated over and over again, one has the right to peaceful protest, but you do not have the right to destroy the property of the City of New York."
Tisch said the suspect was wearing all black and used incendiary devices to set the cars ablaze.
"He first tries to break in through a lock on the gate, and when that fails, he hops a lower side fence to make entry," she said.
CBS News New York obtained surveillance video that appears to show a person using a small table to jump the fence into the lot, matching the description laid out by the NYPD. The NYPD was unable to confirm if the person in the video was indeed the suspect, but residents said the video was confiscated by police in their investigation.
"If you want to protest, protest right"
"We need to stop this. All of us. If you want to protest, protest right," Community Board 4 Chair Robert Camacho said. "There's a lot of history here, and to do that, it brings old wounds," he added, becoming emotional.
Some neighbors said surveillance video shows the suspect pacing up and down the block, and then using a table to jump over the fence to access the lot. The person in the video is wearing all black.
"I was in my apartment, I got the notification from the Citizen app on my phone and came out and saw flames and a crowd gathered," one neighbor said on the scene. "It was very unsettling, no one wants to live on a street that has arson happening on it. Yeah, it's unnerving for sure."
Neighbors said the situation could've been much worse.
"I was sleeping. I could've been burned in my house," neighbor Miriam Benado said. "The flames didn't get close to the houses. Otherwise we would have been in serious trouble."
"The people that did that should pay for it," Camacho said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or 1-888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish. You can also submit a tip . All calls are kept confidential.
