A man who set himself on fire in the lobby of an office building that houses Google has been arrested on arson charges, police have said.
John Butch, 63, from Brooklyn in New York, USA, allegedly used a “lighter accelerant” to ignite himself at around 3pm on Friday, August 28, inside the lobby of 315 Hudson Street, near Vandam Street in Lower Manhattan.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said he was arrested for the act.
He has now reportedly been charged with arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment.
Surveillance footage showed Butch entering the building’s lobby at about 2pm, leaving, then returning roughly an hour later, according to reports.
At around 2.58pm, investigators say he used fluid kept in his backpack to set himself alight, with both his body and bag becoming engulfed in flames.
The incident sparked panic in the lobby, but building security guards rushed in with fire extinguishers and put out the blaze before the FDNY and NYPD arrived.
Butch survived and was taken by EMS to the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center burn unit. He remains in hospital in stable condition.
Police reportedly said no staff or bystanders were injured.
During a search of his personal items, investigators recovered a collapsible tactical baton from inside his charred bag.
Questions remain over whether Google was the intended target. The 10-storey building is a shared space.
While Google is the biggest tenant, it also houses the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, the New York Society for the Deaf and ground-floor retail shops.
