A teenager accused of setting a fire on a 56-year-old man on the No. 3 train on Dec. 1 is facing federal arson charges.
The New York Police Department arrested 18-year-old Hiram Carrero on Thursday. He appeared before a federal judge in lower Manhattan on Friday, where a federal prosecutor said he faces at least seven years in prison.
As his mother sat in the courtroom, District Judge Valerie Caproni decided to hold Carrero without bail, citing the heinous nature of the crime.
This overturned the decision of Magistrate Robert Lehrberg and ordered his release.
According to police, the 56-year-old victim was sleeping on the No. 3 train around 3 a.m. Monday when the suspect walked into the car at Penn Station at 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. Surveillance images released in the federal complaint show the victim alone in a subway car.
Investigators said Carrero allegedly approached the victim and set his legs on fire. Carrero allegedly fled the train as the doors were about to close, the complaint states.
When the victim stepped out of the subway car at the next stop, Times Square, he was still on fire, according to the complaint. Surveillance video showed him sitting on a platform with flames coming from his thighs.
Law enforcement responded, extinguished the fire and then transported the victim to the hospital in critical condition, the complaint states.
Police said the burns were so severe that they found charred skin on the seat where the victim was sitting.
Police announced Thursday that Carrero was arrested on state charges including attempted murder.
Carrero had nothing to say as he was led out of the Ninth Precinct in handcuffs Thursday.
———-
* Get Eyewitness News
* More Manhattan news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Use the form below to send it to Eyewitness News. If you attach a video or photo, the terms of use apply.
