{"id":314502,"date":"2026-08-05T18:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/314502\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T18:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:26:15","slug":"firebug-who-torched-173-year-old-nyc-church-busted-when-cop-spots-him-shoplifting-donuts-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/314502\/","title":{"rendered":"Firebug who torched 173-year-old NYC church busted when cop spots him shoplifting donuts: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

A firebug suspected of torching a landmarked 173-year-old Brooklyn church<\/a> was busted when an eagle-eyed cop spotted him shoplifting a turkey sandwich and donuts from a Midtown CVS, sources said.<\/p>\n

John Jones, 24, tried to swipe a free meal with a Coke to wash it down in the store on Broadway at about 1:39 a.m. but the off-duty cop, who was working a security shift, took him into custody, sources said.<\/p>\n

The firebug who\u2019s suspected of torching a historic Brooklyn church was cuffed by cops in a Midtown grocery after he attempted to pilfer a turkey sandwich, sources said. X \/ @FDNY<\/p>\n

Firefighters worked to battle the fire at South Bushwick Reformed Church on Friday, June 19, 2026. David Burns\/@FD4D<\/p>\n

Cops ran Jones through the system and realized that he was wanted on a warrant for torching the South Bushwick Reformed Church<\/a>, according to sources.<\/p>\n

John Jones, 24, was arrested after being caught stealing a turkey sandwich, a Coke and donuts by an off-duty cop working a security shift at a CVS, sources said. David Burns for NY Post<\/p>\n

Authorities had been eyeing Jones as the alleged arsonist behind a three-alarm fire that torched the historical house of worship<\/a> on June 19, sources said.<\/p>\n

The blaze decimated the church\u2019s historic spire<\/a> and gutted much of its insides, leaving congregants without a place to worship.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And activists said destroyed thousands of artifacts<\/a> were destroyed in the blaze.<\/p>\n

Authorities had been eyeing Jones as the alleged arsonist behind a three-alarm fire that torched the 173-year-old house of worship on June 19, sources said. BHPA<\/p>\n

According to sources, the alleged perp had been caught on camera fleeing the church not too long before it burst into flames.<\/p>\n

Jones is also expected to be hit with unspecified federal charges in the Eastern District of New York, with a federal complaint against him expected to be unsealed Wednesday, sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was also slapped with criminal mischief charges after he smashed a television at Williamsburg restaurant DOC Wine on June 28 in Brooklyn, causing $900 in damages, sources said.<\/p>\n

A three-alarm fire tears through the South Bushwick Reformed Church at 855 Bushwick Ave on Friday, June 19, 2026. @FD4D<\/p>\n

A fire burned down the historic South Bushwick Reformed Church at 855 Bushwick Ave in Brooklyn, NY. Google maps<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear what Jones has been charged with. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A firebug suspected of torching a landmarked 173-year-old Brooklyn church was busted when an eagle-eyed cop spotted him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3094,98,21977,303,544,57,9,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":["post-314502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-arson","tag-brooklyn","tag-church","tag-crime","tag-fires","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314502","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=314502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}