NEW YORK CITY, New York (WABC) — A second person is now in custody after a 37-year-old homeless man was set on fire outside of Penn Station in New York City.<\/p>\n
47-year old-Damon Johnson of Brooklyn and 33-year-old Lyla Najjar of Queens were arrested in connection with the arson attack.<\/p>\n
The victim was sleeping or lying in an old taxiway when two men and a woman approached him just before 9 p.m. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“You look up above the escalator, there’s a gentleman on fire, flames completely engulfed, he’s running back and forth trying to get it out, people are trying to pat him down,” said witness Sam Stalone.<\/p>\n
The victim then went into the Amtrak rotunda area, where someone told him to roll around to extinguish the flames.<\/p>\n
Surveillance video also shows Amtrak police rushing up an escalator in the rotunda area to try to assist the victim.<\/p>\n
“Everyone was just completely shocked, they didn’t know what happened, nobody knew what was going on, then the firefighters came,” Stalone said.<\/p>\n
The fire was quickly put out but the victim suffered second degree burns to his arm and back. He was taken to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Johnson was arrested in the immediate aftermath of the crime.<\/p>\n
Police believe he set the victim’s jacket on fire.<\/p>\n
Johnson was caught on camera crouching and leaning over the victim for some time before walking away.<\/p>\n
Johnson is charged with attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment. He pleaded not guilty and was held without bail.<\/p>\n
Johnson has about 131 prior arrests dating back to 1995 in the Bronx. He is on parole for a 2018 robbery, when he slashed a student’s face and took taking cash from his pockets. That victim required more than 100 stitches.<\/p>\n
Lyla Najjar was arrested yesterday. She was charged with assault.<\/p>\n
Najjar has five prior arrests.<\/p>\n
Police are still investigating the crime.<\/p>\n
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