New York City authorities arrested a 58-year-old man who allegedly threw rubbing alcohol at a police officer and threatened to set the officer on fire at an East Harlem subway station.
The suspect, identified as James Murphy from Manhattan, reportedly approached in a “combative manner” two plainclothes officers who were patrolling the 135th Street station at around 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
Man douses NYPD cop with rubbing alcohol, threatens to light him on fire in NYC subway station https://t.co/DufcM1qjNE pic.twitter.com/85hRlC6GXx
— New York Post (@nypost) October 10, 2023
Murphy allegedly took out a bottle of flammable rubbing alcohol and doused one of the officers with it. He then brandished a lighter and “threatened to light the cop on fire,” police said. (RELATED: Horrifying Bodycam Footage Shows Hammer-Wielding Suspect Beat Officer Before She Shoots Him)
After the suspect fled the scene without carrying out the horrific act, the officers called for backup and later apprehended him in a subway tunnel, the outlet reported.
Both officers suffered minor injuries, with one reporting stinging sensations in his eyes from the flammable liquid.
Murphy is now facing multiple charges, including assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and criminal trespassing.
The suspect has a substantial criminal history, with over two dozen arrests related to theft and drug possession, police said, according to the New York Post.
Last month, a 38-year-old man in New York City reportedly knifed his 61-year-old mother and pushed his 88-year-old grandmother out of a first-floor window before stabbing himself in the chest.