Suspect allegedly set man and woman on fire on New York subway

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Surveillance video showed police, firefighters and EMS responding shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday at the southbound Houston Varick Street #1 station in Manhattan.

A shirtless man sat in the back of an ambulance after being set on fire in what police say was a random attack.

The suspect, identified as Nile Taylor, 48, was accused of lighting a cup filled with some type of alcohol and throwing it – without provocation – at the man and his girlfriend, whom he was trying to protect himself from the flames.

The criminal complaint details the extent of the injuries. The victim, a man, suffered severe burns to his face, ears, neck, arm and upper chest. His partner suffered burns to the chest.

Police said that as Taylor fled, he stole a woman's iPhone. But the police managed to find this phone and arrested him a few blocks away.

Once in custody, detectives also charged Taylor with allegedly trying to set fires to three different subway riders in February, further north at Chelsea No. 1 station.

“This is a strong case as the accused was arrested shortly after the incident on Saturday afternoon and was in possession of several lighters and a bottle containing alcohol friction. The defendant later identified himself in the February 5 surveillance video and also admitted to throwing the burning liquid at the victims on Saturday afternoon,” prosecutors told the court as part of their request to fix the charge. bail.

Taylor was arraigned this morning in Manhattan Criminal Court. Bail was set at $250,000 cash or $500,000 surety.

He is now connected to both incidents and charged with two counts of second-degree assault for this weekend's incident and three counts of second-degree threatening for the February incident.