Overview
- Police say a 36-year-old man was taken into custody after Molotov cocktails were thrown at Iglesia Bautista El Mesías in Ozone Park and a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Woodhaven late Wednesday night.
- Surveillance video reportedly shows the suspect lighting and throwing a device at the Ozone Park church, and officers recovered two additional Molotov cocktails from his bag at the time of arrest.
- Federal prosecutors identify the suspect as Yogesh Sayrange and say he admitted to earlier firebombings, linking him to roughly seven arson incidents dating to late June.
- Sayrange appeared in federal court on a separate complaint tied to a June 25 Brooklyn firebombing, and prosecutors note he has prior arrests and an unresolved immigration status with a pending DACA renewal application.
- No injuries or major structural damage were reported and the FDNY extinguished small fires, but the attacks have deepened concern among local faith communities and prompted a federal hate-bias inquiry.