Video shows NYPD standing by as woman sets fire, burns to death

On By Littum

The suspect police said set the victim on fire was arraigned on Tuesday. He has not yet entered a plea.

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Video of the horrific death Sunday of a woman who was set on fire on a New York City subway car appears to show police officers standing by as she burns alive.

In another twist, a man resembling the suspect who set her alight, identified as a 33-year-old Guatemalan man in the country illegally, sits on a nearby bench as she burns Sunday morning. The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, even appears to wave his jacket at her on the Brooklyn subway platform.

The New York Police Department arrested Zapeta, who officials said lives at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, at another subway station in Midtown Manhattan.

The footage and images of the woman burning alive have prompted people on social media to criticize the NYPD for how officers responded to the crime. Police defended the officers’ response, beginning when officers patrolling the Stillwell Avenue station smelled and saw smoke coming from the F train.

Police said an officer, visible on footage near the burning woman, was trying to control the scene, while other officers tried to grab fire extinguishers and Metropolitan Transit Authority workers. They eventually extinguished the flames, although she was pronounced dead at the scene.

“I think he did his job perfectly when his colleagues went and got MTA workers, got fire extinguishers and eventually was able to put the person out,” NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta told reporters Sunday.

But when the footage drew criticism, police body camera footage and surveillance footage were key to tracking down Zapeta, who an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said was in the country illegally after being deported.

Three high school-aged people identified the suspect and called police, who then arrested him, NYPD Chief Jessica Tisch said.

Zapeta has been charged with murder and arson, court records show. The victim had not been identified as of Tuesday evening.

Suspects appear in court

Zapeta appeared in a Brooklyn court on Tuesday for his arraignment, where Judge Jung Park ordered that he remain in custody.

His next court appearance is Friday, when he is expected to enter a plea. The three counts for which he has been charged all carry maximum sentences of life in prison.

Featured: Reuters