A man was arrested and charged with murder for starting the gas leak that set off a massive explosion and fire at a Bronx high-rise that left one man dead and 14 injured, cops said.
Samuel Calderon, 55, was also charged with manslaughter, assault, burglary and criminal contempt among other charges related to the deadly incident, police said. His arraignment was pending on Wednesday.
Calderon, a homeless man with a long history of arrests, broke into an ex-girlfriend’s apartment at the Boston Secor Houses, on Bivona St. near Reeds Mill Lane in Baychester, around midnight on Jan. 24, according to law enforcement sources.
There, the suspect dismantled a gas stove, which video shows him wheeling down the hallway outside in an apparent bid to steal the appliance, sources said.
The gas leak caused by the theft of the stove resulted in the explosion moments later, according to sources.
The blast, in turn, sparked a raging four-alarm blaze that tore through the top floors of the 17-story residential tower, cops said.
Amid the flames, firefighters found 60-year-old Ronald McCallister unconscious. Medics rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, where he died, said police.
Five other people were taken to local hospitals for treatment, including a 37-year-old man found unconscious and in critical condition, cops said.
Calderon has more than 25 arrests since 1987, including two felony busts for burglary in 2008 and 2022.
His most recent arrest was in November for criminal contempt and violating an order of protection at the building where Saturday’s fatal fire occurred, cops said.
According to police sources, his ex-girlfriend was not at the apartment he broke into Saturday night and is staying at a domestic violence shelter for women because she feared him.
As Calderon was led out of the Bronx’s 47th Precinct Wednesday night, his hands cuffed behind his back, a Daily News reporter asked him, “What happened?”
“God bless you,” he answered.
