FDNY fire marshals have arrested a 25-year-old man they say set three separate arson fires inside a Brooklyn NYCHA housing complex, officials said Friday.
Unique Cherry was arrested on Tuesday for sparking the blazes, which date back to December, Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said.
FDNY officials said all three fires were set in NYCHA’s Albany II houses in Crown Heights.
“This investigation demonstrates the outstanding work of the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Investigation,” Tucker said. “Arson is a serious crime. It is extremely reckless and shows a complete disregard for the lives and safety of others.”
The blazes could have put “many other people in danger,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in announcing Cherry’s arrest.
Firefighters first learned of the alleged firebug’s activities on Jan. 26 when they responded to a fire in a first-floor apartment in the housing complex on Bergen St. near Troy Ave.
The fire was quickly extinguished, but marshals soon learned that someone had intentionally set 12 small fires throughout the apartment.
Marshals quickly identified Cherry as the arsonist, who was seen near the apartment when the blaze broke out.
At the time, Cherry was considered a person of interest in several other blazes in the complex.
When fire marshals brought him in for questioning on Tuesday, he admitted to starting the Jan. 26 fire, as well as giving detailed confessions on two other buildings in the complex.
He admitted to sparking a small blaze inside a Troy Ave. apartment building on Jan. 20 and then another in an apartment building on the Park Place side of the complex on Dec. 15.
No serious injuries were reported in the three fires, officials said.
Fire marshals charged Cherry with three counts of second-degree arson, three counts of criminal mischief, and three counts of reckless endangerment.
A Brooklyn Criminal Court judge ordered him released without bail during his arraignment Wednesday, according to court records. Cherry’s expected to respond to the charges in August.
