Man arrested on hate crime charge in firebomb attack at NYC Islamic cultural center
NEW YORK — A man who confessed to a string of New Year’s Day arson attacks at an Islamic cultural center and four other sites where he had personal grievances was arrested on a hate crime charge, police said.
Ray Lazier Lengend, a 40-year-old of Guyanese descent, hurled crude firebombs at the Islamic center in part because he wasn’t allowed to use its bathrooms, a law enforcement official said.
Lengend was tracked through a stolen car with Virginia license plates believed to be at the scene of at least two of the attacks Sunday evening on a convenience store, three homes and the cultural center, police said. He was arrested on Tuesday on charges including one count of arson as a hate crime, four counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, they said.
Lengend, who lives in Queens, was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric examination on Tuesday night. He remained in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment. A man who answered a telephone call at Lengend’s home said he would not give out any information over the phone and hung up. There was no information on whether Lengend had a lawyer.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/nyc-police-probe-firebombing-attack-on-prominent-islamic-center-3-other-sites/2012/01/03/gIQAhXNcXP_story.html