Vandals torch 11 NYPD vehicles near Brooklyn police precinct
Vandals torched 11 NYPD police cars in a Brooklyn parking lot down the street from a police stationhouse early Thursday, police said.
The brazen act of vandalism happened just hours after protesters held a 'Speak Out' at the 83rd Precinct stationhouse on Knickerbocker Ave. and Bleecker St. in Bushwick, decrying the cops for their treatment of Puerto Rican Day Parade celebrants at after-parties in the neighborhood on Sunday night and Monday morning.
The NYPD was aware of the Wednesday night demonstration, but it wasn't immediately clear if the two incidents were linked.
The marked and unmarked NYPD vehicles were set ablaze inside the lot around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, cops said. The FDNY managed to put out the blaze within a few minutes.
No injuries were reported, but the vehicles suffered extensive damage, officials said.
Two men dressed in black were seen fleeing the scene.
Investigators believe someone poured gasoline on the marked police cars before setting them on fire. A torch lighter was found on the scene.
Vandals busted the windshields of some of the vehicles they didn't torch, a police source said. Palm-sized wads of kindling were found in the wheel wells of at least one car.
Cops were scouring the area for surveillance video that captures the vandals walking to the lot, which is just down the block from the stationhouse.
Community leaders called for calm as the vandalism stokes growing tensions between the NYPD and Brooklyn residents.
City Councilmember Sandy Nurse, D-Bushwick, called the torching 'completely unacceptable.'
'Actions like this have no place in our neighborhood,' Nurse wrote on X Thursday. 'Our community is already under stress with ICE present. Now is the time to de-escalate, stand together and work through our challenges peacefully.'
City Councilwoman Jen Gutiérrez, who also represents Bushwick, agreed with Nurse and called for cooler heads to prevail.
'We cannot stand up to this and any other threat with more violence,' Gutiérrez posted. 'We must de-escalate and keep our families safe.'
Precinct officers are being accused on social media of having been heavy-handed as they broke up Puerto Rican Parade after-parties in Bushwick on Sunday.
'On Sunday evening, NYPD pigs from the 83rd Precinct launched a fascist offensive against the community of Bushwick, NYC, attacking Puerto Ricans and non-Puerto Ricans during peaceful celebrations during the Manhattan and Brooklyn Puerto Rican Day Parades,' one post noted. 'The first attack happened around the Bush Dyke Bar around 8 p.m. Victims of this unnecessary raid reported being slammed to the ground resulting in hospitalizations.'
In a second incident, cops shut down an after-party at Mood Ring on Myrtle Ave. The incident resulted in at least one hospitalization, BKMag reported.
An NYPD spokesman said cops were called to the venue around 12:20 a.m. Monday after getting a 311 call about a disorderly group outside.
Officers tried to disperse the crowd, but several people refused to leave, the spokesman said, adding that at least one partier assaulted a cop trying to move the crowd along.
Police took five people into custody. Three were hit with criminal charges, and two were given summonses for disorderly conduct, officials said. The criminal charges ranged from assault and resisting arrest to obstructing government administration and criminal mischief, cops said.
'The NYPD did not shut down the premises and no enforcement action was taken inside the establishment,' the NYPD spokesman added. 'The NYPD entered the establishment only to speak with management.'
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