Investigators are searching for a man seen in this surveillance video hurling a Molotov cocktail at a private home in Jamaica, Queens that doubles as a Hindu place of worship. The suspect, described as black, 5-feet-8, 200 pounds, and 25 to 30 years old, was caught on camera throwing a Starbucks Frappuccino bottle filled with flammable liquid at the residence, one of four places in Queens that were firebombed late Sunday night. A fifth home on Long Island was also hit Sunday night, and Nassau County police tell the Times that incident has "some characteristics" similar to the Queens attacks.
Ramesh Maharaj, 62, a Hindu priest who lives in the Queens house, had installed the camera after a March break-in, and he tells Newsday (paywall) that police were "excited" when they saw the tape. He says he heard the crash and ran outside to find the bottle burning out harmlessly on the lawn. "I am concerned, not nervous," says Maharaj. "I am too old to be nervous," and, speaking to the Times, adds that the suspect "should try to find God and be remorseful for what he has done."
The attacker caused minimal damage to the front door of an Islamic center, and no damage in a bodega, where the owner tells the Times the bottle was tossed over the counter and "fell to the floor without breaking and caused a small fire easily extinguished by a worker." A bodega worker tells the Daily News the suspect was thrown out of the store for shoplifting three nights ago; according to police he appeared to be of Guyanese descent and had been trying to steal a Starbucks Frappuccino.
The fourth target in Queens, a private residence, was badly damaged by fire that was sparked by the Molotov cocktail. And on Long Island, Newsday reports that the firebomb shattered a doublepaned window on the front of a house in Elmont. Homeowner Bejai Rai and his wife were getting ready for bed around 9:40 when they heard a loud crash, which Rai says sounded “as if the chandelier had fallen down." Rai tells Newsday, "I'm shocked. I'm basically wondering why it's happening. It's a quiet neighborhood. Why would they target my house?" This is what investigators want to know, and federal authorities have joined the NYPD to investigate the firebombing as a bias crime.
