A Flatbush man was handed a 29-count indictment for alleging hurling a Molotov cocktail into a Brooklyn deli in October and causing significant damage to the business.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn allege Joel Mangal, 38, threw a lit device into the deli on Oct. 30, tried to throw a second, and stabbed a deli worker who chased the suspect as he fled.
Mangal was arraigned Monday before a Brooklyn Supreme Court justice and ordered held on a $500,000 cash bond. He's scheduled to return to court in January.
The indictment accuses Mangal of approaching the Bed-Stuy business before 7 a.m. and threatening to kill two employees inside. After breaking a TV screen and fleeing, the man allegedly returned an hour later and threw a Molotov cocktail inside.
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"The defendant allegedly stood outside of the deli and threw a Molotov cocktail inside the deli, which exploded into a fireball on impact and engulfed the deli counter and caused portions of the cashier counter to go up in flames, forcing two employees to jump through the flames to get to safety. One of the victim’s foot and arm caught fire," according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Mangal tried to throw a second Molotov cocktail into the deli but was stopped by a passerby who knocked it out of his hand, the attorney said.
The two deli workers chased the 38-year-old down into the Nostrand Avenue subway station was one was reportedly stabbed in the hand.
The FDNY released dramatic surveillance video that allegedly shows Mangal light the incendiary device and chuck it inside.
One person is seen on the video stumbling through the floor-to-ceiling flames to escape through the door of the deli while another person hops the counter to break free.
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Mangal faces many charges including attempted murder, arson, aggravated assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Contact information for his attorney was not immediately known.
