Fire marshals have arrested a man seen on video hurling a Molotov Cocktail through the front door of a Brooklyn deli and causing significant damage to the business, the FDNY said Sunday.
Dramatic surveillance video released by the the department allegedly shows the man, 38-year-old Joel Mangal, light the incendiary device and chucking it into the deli.
Video captured inside the deli shows the Molotov Cocktail explode, immediately sending a wall of fire through the shop on Nostrand Avenue in Bed-Stuy. The FDNY says the attack happened just before 8 a.m. on Saturday.
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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In a statement announcing the arrest on Sunday, the FDNY said one person received medical treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
Mangal faces charges of arson, assault, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief. It was immediately clear if he had hired an attorney.
A second video captured the attack from outside on the sidewalk showing the moment the attacker lit the device and threw it inside the deli.
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The video shows the suspect light a second Molotov Cocktail to throw inside as well when a second man standing on the sidewalk knocks it out of his hand, sending the fiery explosive to the ground.
“FDNY will continue to work alongside local, state and federal partners to bring to justice those who use fire as a weapon against New Yorkers," Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.
