{"id":216252,"date":"2026-05-01T02:38:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T02:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216252\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T02:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T02:38:20","slug":"drunk-man-sparks-gas-explosion-that-destroys-estranged-wifes-queens-house-nypd-cops-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216252\/","title":{"rendered":"Drunk man sparks gas explosion that destroys estranged wife’s Queens house, NYPD cops hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

A drunken Queens man broke into his estranged wife\u2019s home early Thursday and sparked a massive caught-on-video gas explosion<\/a> that destroyed the house and left multiple NYPD cops injured, officials said.<\/p>\n

Suspect Anroop Parasaram was found dead \u201cbeneath the rubble caused by the explosion,\u201d NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.<\/p>\n

Cops were called to settle a domestic dispute inside the basement apartment of the three-story home on 130th St. near 109th Ave. in South Ozone Park about 2:45 a.m.<\/p>\n

But as they unlocked the door to the home \u2014 with the key Parasaram\u2019s wife gave them \u2014 a massive explosion sent glass shards and rubble raining down upon them, dramatic body-worn camera video shared by the NYPD shows.<\/p>\n

\"AA destroyed house after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

With half the building gone and cops screaming \u201cYou\u2019re good?\u201d to their colleagues, the officers managed to pull stunned residents from the rubble of the home, including several children, the footage shows.<\/p>\n

The chaos begean when Parasaram, 50, showed up at the home with a knife, forcing his way into the basement apartment by shoving an air conditioner out of a window, police say.<\/p>\n

Once inside, he terrorized his estranged wife, her daughter and her two grandchildren, NYPD Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh said at a briefing Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video recovered by cops shows the suspect walking to the area carrying two large bags with yellow cannisters inside, police said.<\/p>\n

When cops responded, they were met by the wife, who said Parasaram had locked himself in the basement<\/a> apartment. There was also a heavy smell of gas, she said.<\/p>\n

\"AA destroyed house is pictured after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

She gave police the keys to the basement apartment and as cops attempted to gain access a \u201cmassive fiery explosion erupted,\u201d McIntosh said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The officers) were violently thrown off their feet with some thrown into gates at the residence,\u201d the chief said. \u201cEven after that several officers rushed into the danger and went into the building and located one person and helped them move to safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven NYPD officers and a sergeant were injured in the blast.<\/p>\n

Multiple FDNY fire units were called in to battle the five-alarm blaze. The injured cops were taken to Jamaica Hospital with minor burns, McIntosh said. One cop suffered a deep gash to his head that required stitches.<\/p>\n

\"AA body is pictured after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got very lucky today,\u201d McIntosh said. \u201cThis could have turned out very differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dangerous explosion was so powerful that it knocked them off their feet, but they stood up, got up and ran into the burning home, because that\u2019s what the job required,\u201d he added. \u201cThankfully, today, luck was on their side.\u201d<\/p>\n

During an unrelated press conference in the Bronx, Tisch said that all the injured officers were later released from the hospital.<\/p>\n

The home collapsed in the fire, FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito said. Everyone in the building has been accounted for except for Parasaram.<\/p>\n

\"AA body is pictured after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Parasaram\u2019s body was found in the rubble several hours later. His wife, who remained at the scene throughout the day, wept after first responders cover his mangled body with a sheet.<\/p>\n

She declined to speak to reporters as relatives escorted her from the home.<\/p>\n

Tisch said that Parasaram had a \u201cdocumented history of domestic violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the cause of the explosion was still being investigated, police believe he \u201cset fire to the location with an unknown liquid accelerant,\u201d the police commissioner said.<\/p>\n

Police on Thursday were going through Parasaram\u2019s car, which was found nearby the scene, Tisch said.<\/p>\n

Parasaram was intoxicated when he broke into the building, McIntosh said. Over the years, cops have been called to the basement apartment \u201cmultiple times\u201d to quell domestic disputes between Parasaram and his wife, police said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe scene after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The estranged husband had three past orders of protection filed against him barring him from going near his wife and family, McIntosh said. The last order of protection expired on Nov. 29, 2024, police said.<\/p>\n

More than 300 firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics arrived at the home.<\/p>\n

\"AA destroyed house is pictured after a massive explosion on 130th St. in Queens on Thursday. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Homes on both sides of the address were damaged, Esposito said, adding that the FDNY was working with the Red Cross to provide assistance to the 16 people left displaced by the explosion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were thinking there was something with the basement, something wrong. She said, \u2018No. He set a fire,\u201d said nextdoor neighbor Leikram Singh, whose home was also severely damaged in the blaze and couldn\u2019t return to his home Thursday.<\/p>\n

Singh, 67, was sleeping when the explosion occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife started screaming \u2018Fire!’\u201d Singh recalled. \u201cI rushed and get my son, everybody, out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once his family was safe, Singh went back and tried to douse his home with a garden hose as firefighters arrived and pulled him away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling terrible. Very terrible. I\u2019m mad with the guy,\u201d he said of Parasaram. \u201cHe\u2019s the one who caused all this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marie Jean, who lives across the street, let Parasaram\u2019s wife and children stay in her home as firefighters doused the blaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was so depressed,\u201d Jean, 82, said. \u201cShe don\u2019t talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jean had never met her neighbors before Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been living in this neighborhood for 53 years and I never see them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kawanza Cruickshank, 35, lives next door to the building that exploded and his house also caught fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard the boom,\u201d he said. \u201cI said, \u2018What the hell?\u2019 Ran down the stairs, ran out the door, just ran up the block.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruickshank grew up in his house and is not sure when he\u2019ll be allowed to return to his badly damaged home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A drunken Queens man broke into his estranged wife\u2019s home early Thursday and sparked a massive caught-on-video gas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":["post-216252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","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-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216252","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=216252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}