New York City High School Senior Hiram Carrero was convicted Friday of Federal Arson. Police say the 18-year-old set the fire that badly burned a subway passenger. The fire, which happened last Monday morning, is the latest in a series of incidents of people being burned in public transportation across the US Carterro were not required to enter a plea during the Manhattan court.
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Hiram Carrero lit a fire on the train
US District Judge Valerie E. Caproni Hiram Carretro was arrested, revealing the “badness of the crime.” This comes after prosecutors appealed to Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrrburger’s order to release the teenager to house arrest under the supervision of his mother.
“It’s hard for me to understand why an 18-year-old high school guy would be out at 3 in the morning setting people on fire,” Judge Caproni said.
Carrothe allegedly placed a piece of paper and threw it next to the 56-year-old sleeper passenger. That happened around 3 a.m. Monday on the northbound 3 train at the 34th Street-Penn Stoptof Sear near Madison Square Garden and Macy’s Flagship stores in Midtown Manhattan. The passenger stumbled onto the platform at the next station, the square with the 42nd pins. His legs and torso were burned, according to surveillance footage included in Carero’s criminal complaint.
The subway passenger was taken to the hospital after the fire
According to the complaint, the 18-year-old entered the train alone, lit a fire and held the station while the passenger was sleeping. Then he took the bus home. The police immediately extinguished the flames and the subway passenger was rushed to the hospital. According to the AP, he was listed in critical condition.
“The victim was already dead this time,” said prosecutor Cameron Molis.
Police arrested Hiram Carrero on Thursday (Decren 4) in Harlem, where his lawyer said he lives with his disabled mother. The young man acts as his main caregiver, bringing him to medical attention. His mother attended his funeral but refused to speak to reporters.
According to the complaint, investigators intervened in Carrow by comparing images from the underground section to body-worn camera equipment recorded in October. At that time, the police stopped him for riding his bike through a red light. Brown said he was bringing an Uber to eat at that time. The teenager and the underground courier suspected that the investigators wanted them to have a different mustache, a hat with white spots on the other side, a backpack, and a gray sweatshirt for both photo sets.
A second judge reinstates the house arrest order
Carrero’s attorney, Jennifer Brown, said “there is no dispute that these allegations are very serious.” But, he said, Carrore a “He’s a very young man with no (criminal) record and my mother is willing to put him in.”
Before Judge Caproni Paproni entered, Judge Lehrorger agreed to release the youth to home detention and electronic monitoring and a drug screening requirement and submit to drug testing. Caproni returned the verdict after hours of hearings on Friday (Dec. 5).
A black lawyer, trying to convince him to set Carterro’s release, cited news reports that investigators have been looking into whether the passenger was serious about the fire.
What happens next?
If the jury convicts him, Hiram Carrero faces up to seven years in prison. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 4. However, it will be canceled if prosecutors present the case to a grand jury and defend the case at that time.
Meanwhile, Carrero is not facing charges in State Court. The case eventually ended up in federal court, in part because the Federal Task Force investigated side by side with City departments.
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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