Landlord Rafiqul Islam arrested after allegedly setting Brooklyn building on fire because tenants refused to move out, FDNY says
NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn landlord has been arrested after he allegedly set his own building on fire, fire marshals say.
Rafiqul Islam is facing arson and attempted murder charges.
It happened in the Cypress Hills section back on Sept. 26.
Investigators say Islam was angry that his second-floor tenants had stopped paying rent and refused to move out.
Islam allegedly set fire to an interior staircase at the Forbell Street building.
"When the fire first started people speculated it was him," one neighbor said Friday. "I just see him usually just walking around, going house to house to the houses that he owns, but I'm just shocked that he got arrested."
Two adults and six children were home at the time of the fire and managed to escape to the roof. Neighbors and firefighters on the ground caught the children, and the parents jumped.
Fire marshals say investigators looked at security video from the area for four weeks before spotting Islam with his hood and mask down.