NYPD Hunt for Suspect in Torching of 11 Police Vehicles

NEW YORK — The NYPD on Wednesday named and released footage of a suspect, who frequently demonstrated at pro- Palestinian and Columbia University protests, in the recent torching of 11 police vehicles in a Brooklyn parking lot just down the street from a precinct stationhouse.

Cops identified Jakhi Lodgson-McCray, 21, of New Jersey, who was caught on video in a bodega near the scene of the June 12 arson incident, according to cops. He acted alone in the vehicles’ torching, according to NYPD officials, carrying the equipment he allegedly used in the arson in a reusable shopping bag, surveillance video shows.

“He’s by himself the entire time. Several times during his escape he changes his clothing. He’s wearing a hoodie cinched up so you can’t see his face, and he’s wearing a mask,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

The suspect has ongoing cases for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and assault in both Manhattan last month and Queens last year, according to law enforcement. In both cases, he was released without bail.

Cops were also investigating a Wednesday morning arson incident of a 911 call around 8:11 a.m. involving an unoccupied marked NYPD van that sustained fire damage to a tire on its right passenger side near Kellogg’s Diner, at Metropolitan and Union Aves., in Williamsburg. Kenny stated that a similar but different brand of fire-starter kindling as was used in the Bushwick arson was used in Wednesday’s incident.

“There is zero tolerance for anyone who attacks the NYPD,” the NYPD said on X as it posted a previous mugshot of Lodgson-McCray and asked the public’s help in tracking him down now.

During a protest on May 15, 2024, near 31st Ave. and 34th St. in Astoria, Lodgson-McCray threw eggs at multiple police officers, according to court documents. Officers tracked him down, but he pulled his arms away from them as they tried to arrest him.

Lodgson-McCray then reportedly taunted one of the arresting officers, “You are a p—y. Take these handcuffs off and we can go one on one.”

Last year, he was arrested for joining with two accomplices in setting fire to American and Israeli flags outside the Israeli Consulate in Midtown. The case was adjudicated, but the outcome was not immediately known Wednesday.

Lodgson-McCray was also wanted for a September 2024 criminal mischief incident at Columbia University, in which he disguised himself as a student and caused more than $1,000 in damage to a campus statue, Kenny said.

He’s now accused of torching nearly a dozen police cruisers at the lot near the 83rd Precinct stationhouse on Knickerbocker Ave. and Bleecker St. in Bushwick around 1:30 a.m. on June 12.

The burned cruisers in the incident suffered more than $500,000 in damage, Kenny said, with the cost to replace the vehicles being around $800,000.

“This incident here … it’s not just an attack on the NYPD,” the chief said. “It was an attack on the neighborhood of Bushwick itself, because if you look at this lot, there are several residences right next to it that sustained damage due to this fire.”

Later on the day of the Bushwick arson incident, Mayor Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch decried the brazen act of vandalism, which the mayor tied to anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.

“This is unacceptable,” Adams said. “We have stated over and over again, everyone has a right to peaceful protest. You do not have a right to destroy property of the City of New York. We have reasons to believe the person who participated in this act is connected to some of the protests that’s taking place in Los Angeles and throughout the entire country.”

The FDNY managed to put out the blaze within a few minutes, but the vehicles were all heavily damaged or destroyed.

Tisch said last week that surveillance footage showed a masked arsonist entering the lot after hopping a fence around 12:40 a.m.

Around 40 minutes later, an officer from the 83rd Precinct caught the perpetrator in the act.

The officer “interrupted the perpetrator as he was setting fire to a number of vehicles, at which point [he] threw a piece of plywood and fled through an alleyway,” Tisch said.

Investigators believe the vandal poured gasoline on the police cars before setting them on fire.

“On scene we found three vehicles that did not sustain fire damage with unignited fire-starter rolls and haystack bundles scattered across the rear passenger tires, the front tires and the windshield,” Tisch said. “In total, we found 12 unignited fire-starter balls and 10 unignited haystack bundles as well as a torch-style lighter — all are legal to possess and can be purchased at stores like Home Depot.”

The vandal also busted the windshields of some of the vehicles that weren’t torched, a police source said.

Lodgson-McCray was wearing a gray hoodie, green pants, and a blue facemask the day of the crime, according to cops.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

_________

Visit at nydailynews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.