Update below
Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy in connection with a fire that gutted a school bus outside a Jewish girls school in East Flatbush early on Sunday evening. An NYPD spokeswoman said the boy was one of four who torched the bus on Brooklyn Avenue between Lefferts and East New York avenues around 6 p.m.
The school bus was sitting outside of the Bais Rikvah girls elementary school, a Chabad-Lubavitch institution. No one was injured as a result of the blaze, according to police.
Crownheights.info reported that the local Shomrim Jewish volunteer patrol was involved in apprehending the children responsible, and that police took down their information to investigate further. Cops told News12 that the fire may have been set with a burning pizza box. The NYPD would not say how the 11-year-old was arrested.
The police department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the blaze, and fire department officials are also still working to determine its cause. The police spokeswoman said that the other three suspects are boys age 13-15.
In response to the incident, a 71st Precinct Community Affairs detective told COLLive, "We will be increasing Police coverage and visibility in the Jewish area. The weather is getting warmer."
Update 2 p.m.:
Surveillance video obtained by crownheights.info shows several kids boarding the bus, some holding pieces of cardboard, and apparently starting the fire inside.
