A masked maniac hurled a Molotov cocktail into a Bronx deli Tuesday \u2014 leaving a worker with burns so severe his skin was \u201cpeeling off,\u201d cops and a relative said.<\/p>\n
The arsonist or arsonists tossed the flaming device into the small storefront shop on West 183rd Street near Jerome Avenue in Fordham Heights around 10:10 p.m. \u2013 leaving the 33-year-old worker with severe burns to his face and body, authorities and law enforcement sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Surveillance footage obtained by The Post, taken from a distance, shows the moment the shop lights up with flames, with at least one shadowy figure standing in the doorway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The arsonist allegedly tossed the flaming device into the small storefront shop on West 183rd Street near Jerome Avenue in Fordham Heights around 10:10 p.m. Tuesday. Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n
The male suspect \u2013 who sources believe may be an acquaintance of the victim \u2013 fled on foot and was still on the loose late Wednesday, cops said.<\/p>\n
A man who identified himself as Mizzy, the victim\u2019s cousin, said a whole crew of juvenile suspects were behind the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, long story short, some young, young kids, went in \u2013 dressed up, skied up, came and threw Molotov cocktails,\u201d Mizzy said. \u201cThat\u2019s some old school s\u2013t to do, but they did that, and that\u2019s what set everything on fire here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attack left the victim with serious burns, and his skin began to peel off, according to cops and a relative. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cI was right here with my friends in front of this shop, last night when it happened,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI\u2019ve seen from the moment the cocktail hit the floor and blew up to when they brought my cousin out the store.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis skin was peeling off, literally,\u201d the cousin added. \u201cHe was on fire, physically on fire. They had to throw a blanket on him to put him out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The victim was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he is listed in serious but stable condition, according to fire officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blaze sparked a second-alarm response and took about an hour to extinguish. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n
The blaze sparked a two-alarm response and took about an hour to extinguish, the FDNY said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mizzy called the arson \u201coutrageous\u201d and \u201cunexpected,\u201d adding that his cousin is well-known in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been here with the community [for a] very long time,\u201d Mizzy said. \u201cEverybody has a lot of love for him. Like, he was famous. Like, he is family.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he suspected his cousin was not the target of the fiery attack.<\/p>\n
Surrounding businesses were also gutted by the blaze. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n
A surrounding bakery, fashion shop and laundromat were also affected by the blaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gotta wait for the insurance company,\u201d said laundromat owner and manager Cheo Basquez. \u201cAssess, rebuild\u2026they gotta fix the roof and everything. We don\u2019t know\u2026how many months it could take.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A masked maniac hurled a Molotov cocktail into a Bronx deli Tuesday \u2014 leaving a worker with burns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3094,303,544,57,9,56,63,65,64,129,58],"class_list":["post-319975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-arson","tag-crime","tag-fires","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-the-bronx","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319975","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=319975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}