New York police investigate Penn Station after homeless man catches fire
A 67-year-old homeless man sustained burns after catching alight in Penn Station. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire. (Credit: Peter Gerber)
An elderly man is in critical condition after he reportedly caught on fire inside Manhattan's Penn Station on Friday, authorities said.
Emergency personnel responded to the subway station after MTA police received a call about a man on fire at approximately 8 p.m. ET.
"MTA Police Officers responded to the scene and located a 67-year-old male with burn injuries to both of his legs and upper body," an NYPD spokesperson said.
The man was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center for treatment and remains in critical condition.
SUSPECT ACCUSED OF BURNING WOMAN TO DEATH ON NYC SUBWAY IS PREVIOUSLY DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
A New York State police officer stands guard outside a Penn Station hallway cordoned off with caution tape after a homeless man caught fire in the station on Dec. 27, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
No arrests have been made. NYPD and MTA police are conducting a joint investigation.
The incident comes days after an illegal immigrant was arrested in connection to the heinous death of a woman who was set on fire and burned alive on a subway train in Brooklyn.
MTA police walk through Penn Station after a homeless man caught on fire there on Dec. 27, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
Sebastin Zapeta, 33, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as first-degree arson.
Surveillance video showed the suspect calmly approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and then setting her on fire.
NYPD ARRESTS MIGRANT WHO ALLEGEDLY SET WOMAN ON FIRE ON SUBWAY TRAIN, WATCHED HER BURN TO DEATH
Caution tape blocks a corridor in Penn Station after a homeless man caught on fire there on Dec. 27, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
The victim has not been identified.
Her clothing "became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds," said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing the case as "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being."
The suspect then sat on a nearby bench outside the train car and watched as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
He was arrested hours later while riding on the same subway line. Tisch added that the person of interest was found with a lighter in his pocket.
VIRGINIA MAN CHARGED WITH PLANNING ‘MASS CASUALTY’ ATTACK AT NYC ISRAELI CONSULATE
New York police officers stand guard outside a Penn Station hallway cordoned off with caution tape after a homeless man caught fire in the station on December 27, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
Zapeta was previously arrested by Border Patrol on June 1, 2018, after he crossed illegally into Sonoita, Arizona, and was deported by the Trump administration just days later on June 7, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Marie Ferguson told Fox News.
Ferguson added that Zapeta then re-entered the U.S. illegally "on an unknown date and location."
She added that after Zapeta is charged and details of where he is being held are released, Enforcement and Removal Operations "will lodge an immigration detainer with the NYPD location where he is being held."
Fox News's Pilar Arias, Bill Melugin, Greg Wehner, Seth Andrews and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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