{"id":115821,"date":"2026-01-29T00:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/115821\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T00:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:52:09","slug":"man-arrested-for-murder-for-sparking-fatal-bronx-gas-explosion-by-stealing-stove-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/115821\/","title":{"rendered":"Man arrested for murder for sparking fatal Bronx gas explosion by stealing stove: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man was arrested and charged with murder for starting the gas leak that set off a massive explosion and fire at a Bronx high-rise<\/a> that left one man dead and 14 injured, cops said.<\/p>\n

Samuel Calderon, 55, was also charged with manslaughter, assault, burglary and criminal contempt among other charges related to the deadly incident, police said. His arraignment was pending on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"EmergencyEmergency crews respond after a massive fire, sparked by a gas explosion, tore through the top of a Bronx NYCHA high-rise building on Bivona St. near Reeds Mill Lane in the Bronx early Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (FDNY \/ X.com)<\/p>\n

Calderon, a homeless man with a long history of arrests, broke into an ex-girlfriend\u2019s apartment at the Boston Secor Houses<\/a>, on Bivona St. near Reeds Mill Lane in Baychester, around midnight on Jan. 24, according to law enforcement sources.<\/p>\n

There, the suspect dismantled a gas stove, which video shows him wheeling down the hallway outside in an apparent bid to steal the appliance, sources said.<\/p>\n

The gas leak caused by the theft of the stove resulted in the explosion moments later, according to sources.<\/p>\n

The blast, in turn, sparked a raging four-alarm blaze that tore through the top floors of the 17-story residential tower, cops said.<\/p>\n

\"AA partially destroyed apartment building is pictured after a massive fire tore through the top of a Bronx NYCHA high-rise on Bivona St. near Reeds Mill Lane in the Bronx early Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Amid the flames, firefighters found 60-year-old Ronald McCallister unconscious. Medics rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, where he died, said police.<\/p>\n

Five other people were taken to local hospitals for treatment, including a 37-year-old man found unconscious and in critical condition, cops said.<\/p>\n

Calderon has more than 25 arrests since 1987, including two felony busts for burglary in 2008 and 2022.<\/p>\n

His most recent arrest was in November for criminal contempt and violating an order of protection at the building where Saturday\u2019s fatal fire occurred, cops said.<\/p>\n

According to police sources, his ex-girlfriend was not at the apartment he broke into Saturday night and is staying at a domestic violence shelter for women because she feared him.<\/p>\n

As Calderon was led out of the Bronx\u2019s 47th Precinct Wednesday night, his hands cuffed behind his back, a Daily News reporter asked him, \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod bless you,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man was arrested and charged with murder for starting the gas leak that set off a massive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,265,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-115821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-sub-county-region","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}