BAYCHESTER, The Bronx (PIX11) — Four days after an apartment building explosion in the Bronx’s Baychester neighborhood, investigators say they have their suspect.
FDNY fire marshals and the NYPD took Samuel Calderon, 55, into custody Wednesday night. Sources say the homeless man broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment, stole the gas stove and allowed the building on Bivonia Street to fill with natural gas.
A neighbor recalled the moment of the blast. “We smelled the gas, then the vibration — and boom,” said Matrina Allen.
Firefighters from Ladder Company 51 were inside the building, ventilating just after midnight Saturday, when the explosion occurred without warning. Those same FDNY members later watched as Calderon was led away in handcuffs.
Calderon has been charged with murder after tenant Ronald McAllister, 60, died in the inferno. “He was burned, second degree, his body totally burned. It’s a catastrophe. It’s a tragedy,” Allen said.
Fifteen other residents were injured. One remains in critical condition.
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The city’s Department of Buildings has condemned the structure, leaving about 150 families displaced. “They moved them into shelters and hotels until things get fixed,” said neighbor, Levonette Demitro.
Sources say Calderon was hoping to sell the stolen stove for drug money. The incident has left residents shaken and raised security concerns.
“These doors have locks and are never locked. Anyone can come in,” Demitro said.
Another neighbor questioned how it happened. “How did someone who doesn’t live here get in there and take a stove to cause an inferno?”
NYPD sources say Calderon has more than 25 arrests since 1987, including two felony burglary arrests in 2008 and 2022. His most recent arrest was in November for criminal contempt and violating an order of protection at the same building where Saturday’s fatal fire occurred.
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