Authorities have arrested the firebug accused of igniting a huge blaze within a Brooklyn nightclub earlier this month, Mayor Eric Adams introduced Thursday.
John Lhota was busted by US Marshals for allegedly dousing the ground of Rash nightclub in Bushwick with gasoline earlier than setting it ablaze on April 3 — sending panicked patrons operating for the exits and severely damaging the venue, in response to sources and federal court docket paperwork.
“We are able to affirm that the @FDNY, @NYPDNews and federal companions have caught the suspect on this arson and introduced them into custody,” Adams tweeted Thursday afternoon, providing no additional particulars.
“We made a promise to our LGBTQ+ group and all communities to maintain our metropolis protected. We received’t relaxation in making that a actuality,” he mentioned.
It wasn’t instantly clear when Lhota was arrested for the membership blaze. However he was fingered because the arson suspect final Friday — two days after he was arrested by police for allegedly assaulting a lady at his residence, in response to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The lady seen the safety footage of the arson and recognized the suspect as Lhota, the court docket docs mentioned.
The blaze on the LGBTQ-friendly bar despatched two ladies — a bartender and a DJ — to the hospital. A bouncer, who briefly caught on fireplace, additionally sought medical therapy, in response to the house owners.
Earlier than the fireplace, Lhota was captured on safety digicam footage leaving his residence constructing, only a half mile away from the constructing, in response to the court docket docs.
He was additionally seen buying a purple canister, which he fills with gasoline, earlier than allegedly “systematically pouring gasoline over the ground of Rash,” Craig Gundersen, an FDNY Fireplace Marshal, wrote within the arrest warrant affidavit.
Regardless of the heavy harm from the fireplace, one among Rash’s house owners, Jack Sillen, advised The Publish the membership will reopen “irrespective of how lengthy it takes us.”
“Little or no of [Rash] will likely be salvageable, we’ll have to begin recent,” Sillen mentioned after the blaze.
“We spent the final yr placing all of our time and vitality and coronary heart into this place and we had been actually happy with what it was changing into. It was solely simply getting on its legs.”
A GoFundMe marketing campaign for the younger membership had raised a whopping $109,000 for a “Employees, Medical & Restoration Fund.”
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