The disturbed homeless man accused of setting a stranger on fire aboard a Manhattan subway train was held on $250,000 bail Monday as prosecutors revealed he threw a flaming can of alcohol.
Nile Taylor, 49, was charged in Manhattan Criminal Court for both last weekend’s attack and a similar previous attack. He is charged with assault, attempted assault and threats.
In the most recent incident, Taylor allegedly lit a cup of flammable liquid and threw it, severely burning 23-year-old Petrit Alijaj on a downtown No. 1 train as it pulled into the Houston St. stop on Saturday around 2:30 p.m. prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Aryan Ahmadian said Monday that the liquid was a can of alcohol.
“The defendant then attacked two strangers on that subway car by throwing the flaming liquid on them.” Ahmadian said.
The fire caused severe burns to Alijaj’s face, neck, ears, arm and chest, and a second victim also suffered burns to the chest, prosecutors said. Taylor is also charged with a misdemeanor for stealing a passenger’s iPhone as he fled the station.
The stolen cell phone allowed police to track Taylor to Canal St. and Renwick St., where he was arrested shortly after the shocking attack.
According to a criminal complaint, Taylor admitted to an NYPD detective that he was responsible for the fiery attack that left Alijaj covered in blisters.
Alijaj was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, where he was in stable condition.
“I was on the train and a maniac set my body on fire, and he left the train,” Alijaj told ABC7 New York Eyewitness News on Sunday.
Alijaj told the station that Taylor looked at him strangely but said nothing before the attack on him, his fiancée and cousins.
“He had a cup by the fire and the train stopped at Houston St. We thought when he went to the door, we thought he was leaving, that he was getting off. He waited for the door to open and then lit the fire on me,” Alijaj said.
“When I saw it, I protected the others with my body,” he added.
Taylor was also charged in connection with another arson attack that occurred on Feb. 5 on the No. 1 platform at the 28th St. station in Chelsea. In March, the NYPD released surprising surveillance footage of that incident and asked the public for help identifying the attacker.
“The suspect followed three men out of the subway station. The defendant carried two burning cans, one in each hand, and then threw the burning liquid toward the victims,” Ahmadian said, adding that Taylor identified himself to police in footage of that incident.
The burning liquid caused the subway station floor to catch fire, but no injuries were reported, police said.
Taylor has served two stints in state prison, public records show.
He went to prison in 1998 for gun possession and was released by another agency the following year. And he served just under two years for attempted forgery before being released in 2008.
