Landlord set fire to home with kids inside over unpaid rent, New York officials say
A Brooklyn landlord was arrested a month after he was accused of setting fire to a home with two adults and six children inside after they stopped paying rent, fire officials said.
On Sept. 26, the New York City Fire Department responded to a fire in the interior staircase of a Brooklyn home, according to a Nov. 3 Facebook post and PIX11.
Eight people — two adults and six children — were inside the home when the fire started, officials said, but all escaped.
As fire marshals investigated the cause of the fire, the tenants said their landlord, 66-year-old Rafiqul Islam, had previously threatened to cut off their gas and electricity, according to the post.
Islam was angry at the second-floor tenants because they stopped paying rent and were refusing to move out, fire marshals said.
Video footage from the day of the fire showed a masked and hooded man leaving the home just before 911 was called, fire marshals said.
Over the next four weeks, fire marshals canvassed for other footage to identify the man, the department said, before finding video of the man taking off the hood and mask.
Fire officials identified the accused arsonist as Islam, the home’s landlord.
Islam was arrested on Oct. 26, PIX11 reported, and charged with eight counts of attempted murder, assault and arson, according to the fire department.
This story was originally published November 6, 2023 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Landlord set fire to home with kids inside over unpaid rent, New York officials say."
