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'You're too late': Queens man charged with torching marked NYPD van spray painted taunting message to law enforcement on his apartment's wall right before he was caught
By Larry McShane and Noah Goldberg
tronc |
Police officers are pictured at the scene of an NYPD patrol car that was set on fire on 83rd Street and Columbus Avenue in Manhattan on July 29. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)
A Queens man who allegedly torched a parked NYPD van after smashing its window and dumping gasoline inside it planned to flee New York — and taunted law enforcement about it right before he was caught, federal prosecutors said Friday.
"You're too late," Sam Resto, 29, spray painted on the walls of his Elmhurst apartment in a jibe at investigators, authorities said.
But the feds got the last laugh — Resto was in their custody when FBI agents executed a search warrant on his apartment.
Resto was arrested Thursday for donning a white Guy Fawkes mask on July 29 and setting the van ablaze on W. 83rd St. near Columbus Ave. on Manhattan's Upper West Side, authorities said.
An unsealed criminal complaint said two of Resto's fingerprints were lifted from a gas can used in the 3:50 a.m. attack and the actual burning of the vehicle was captured on video footage obtained by investigators.
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When the feds arrested Resto at work Thursday, he told them he had no plans to remain in New York, the feds said.
"'I knew you were coming so I had my passport and I was making plans to flee,'" Resto said, according to Assistant US Attorney Michael Keilty.
"'When you go into my residence you are gonna see something. I spray painted something,'" Resto allegedly continued.
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Besides the "You're too late" scrawl, the feds also found that Resto had spray painted the wall with a smiley face with a tongue sticking out, prosecutors said.
The suspect, charged with causing damage by fire to an NYPD vehicle, was ordered held without bail in Brooklyn Federal Court Friday.
"This is stuff you only see in movies, this is like Catch Me If You Can," said Keilty, referring to the Leonardo DiCaprio film.
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He also allegedly had a copy of the Anarchist Cookbook, a book that contains instructions for building explosives, the feds said.
"Resto, wearing a mask and gloves and carrying a backpack containing the tools of his destructive trade, intentionally set fire to an NYPD van parked on a city street lined with residential buildings and vehicles," said Seth DuCharme, acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney.
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According to an unsealed criminal complaint, Resto pumped gasoline into a red jerry can at an Elmhurst gas station about six hours before the arson — with an image of the suspect at the business included in court papers.
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The video showed Resto approaching the empty van, smashing the window with a blunt object, pouring the gasoline inside and setting the vehicle ablaze. He was then seen fleeing east toward Central Park, authorities alleged.
Cops later recovered the suspect's backpack in the Manhattan park, recovering the mask, the gas can, a hammer and lighters, federal officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea noted the arson put the lives of innocent New Yorkers at risk in the busy neighborhood.
"I thanks our NYPD detectives, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and all of our law enforcement partners for their tireless work in ensuring our common mission of protecting life and public safety," the commissioner added.