Moment man launches Molotov cocktail into a Brooklyn bodega and injures two deli workers after early morning argument
A man who tossed a Molotov cocktail into a Brooklyn bodega after an argument, setting off an inferno that nearly killed the workers inside, was arrested as crime continues to plague the city.
Joel Mangal, 38, threw the explosive device inside the store after a verbal dispute with bodega employees, police
Video released by police showed Mangal exiting the Nostrand Avenue deli around 8 a.m. on Saturday and then putting what appeared to be two Molotov cocktails on the sidewalk.
He lit one and threw it into the bodega, setting off a fireball that engulfed the store, the video shows. He was about to throw the second before it was knocked out of his hand by a witness.
The deli workers escaped the flames as Mangal fled on foot toward the Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue subway station. One of the employees chased after Mangal but was slashed on his right hand with a pocket knife by the arsonist, cops said.
Video surveillance footage caught a man throwing a Molotov cocktail into a Brooklyn deli
The suspect, Joel Mangal, is seen about to throw the first incendiary into the bodega
Despite this shocking scene, only one person was injured and suffered non-life-threatening injuries
Mangal was arrested shortly after and faces several charges, including three counts of arson
The deli on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn that faced an attack from a Molotov cocktail
One of the deli workers told CBSNewYork that the suspect was threatening 'I'm gonna kill you.'
'He was threatening, “I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna burn the store. I’m going to burn the building down,“' Mohamed Abdulla told CBS.
Firefighters, shorthanded from the fallout over Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate, quickly arrived to put out the flames. One person at the scene needed provided medical treatment, officials said.
'Fortunately, there was no loss of life here,' said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro. 'The investigative work from the Explosives and Arson Task Force comprised of our Fire Marshals, the NYPD, and ATF, led to the timely arrest of this suspect who threatened the safety of our communities by using such a cruel and destructive device.'
Mangal was charged with three counts of arson, two counts of assault, attempted assault reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief.
Throughout the city, felony assaults are up 7.7 percent from the same time last year, and misdemeanor assaults are up 6.1 percent.
According to the NYPD, the city's overall crime rate is up just under one percent and it is up more in certain categories, such as assaults and rape, which are up 2.7 percent over last year.
This past week, a viral video showed the moment a man taking the subway with his children in tow socks a woman in her face for telling him to 'take a chill pill' in the latest violent attack on a straphanger in crime-plagued New York City.
A three-year-old girl was almost kidnapped by a homeless man in broad daylight in New York City earlier in October.
Crime in New York is on a slight uptick, with felony assaults up eight percent
It comes as police are one of the city agencies likely to see an exodus of workers due to New York's vaccine mandate
New York City is facing a crime spike, shortages of emergency workers and piles of trash on the streets as Monday's COVID vaccine deadline for city workers looms.
Figures show that 22 per cent of the city's 36,000 cops, 35 per cent of the Big Apple's 10,951 firefighters and 20 per cent of the city's 10,000 emergency responders - around 4,300 of whom are employed by the fire department - are also yet to get jabbed.
Close to a quarter - 23 per cent - of the city's 7,200 uniformed sanitation workers remain unvaccinated, with the figures sparking fears of huge shortages of essential workers in the coming weeks. Trash bags have begun to accumulate in piles in Staten Island and Brooklyn, amid claims the slowdown is an unofficial protest at the vaccine mandate.
They - along with any of the city's other 160,000 workers - will be put on unpaid leave from Monday if they fail to show proof they've had at least one vaccine dose.
The vaccine deadline officially expires at 5pm Friday, with anyone showing proof of one shot before then receiving a $500 bonus. But workers will be allowed to get the shot on Saturday and Sunday, and won't be put on unpaid leave if they show up to work with proof of inoculation on Monday.
Thousands of emergency and sanitation workers are still not vaccinated ahead of the New York City's vaccine deadline on Friday, at 5 p.m.
A chunk of each agency's employees will be vaccinated by the end of the day Sunday, adding to the total vaccinated
Several New York City fire stations are closing due to staffing shortages
Mayor Bill de Blasio's edict has triggered furious protests, and warnings up to 40 per cent of fire houses could close, with up to 150 fewer ambulances a day in service.
Mike Salsedo, 44, was among hundreds of firefighters protesting Thursday outside de Blasio's official residence, Gracie Mansion. He said he believes he has natural immunity to COVID-19 after having the disease last year and doesn't need to be vaccinated, a stance that's contrary to the consensus among public health experts.
'I´m a man of faith, and I don´t believe that putting something manmade into my body is good,' Salsedo said.
Another firefighter, Jackie-Michelle Martinez, said the ability to choose was 'our God-given right' as she questioned the city's decision to move away from its previous policy, which allowed workers to stay on the job if they had a negative COVID-19 test.
'If the weekly testing is working, why are you, Mayor de Blasio, eliminating it?' she asked.
The opposition against the mandate stands as firefighters rallied outside de Blasio's home on Thursday, sanitation workers appeared to be skipping garbage pick ups in protest and the city's largest police union went to an appeals court seeking a halt to the vaccine requirement.
Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the hard deadline 'sets the city up for a real crisis.' Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, warned longer response times will 'be a death sentence to some people.'
The city is bracing for a worker shortage as tens of thousands of municipal employees remain unvaccinated, including 35 per cent of the city's 17,000 firefighters. Protesters are pictured in Manhattan Friday
The city's employees have until 5 p.m. on Friday to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with these workers expressing their dissatisfaction at the mandate
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