Police nab alleged pyromaniac after he crashes stolen car

<p>Police arrested a Bronx man suspected of lighting more than a half-dozen fires, stabbing&nbsp;an acquaintance&nbsp;and crashing a stolen&nbsp;car on Long Island Avenue in Wyandanch.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jun 20, 2018, 2:38 AM

Updated 2,306 days ago

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Police arrested a Bronx man suspected of lighting more than a half-dozen fires, stabbing an acquaintance and crashing a stolen car on Long Island Avenue in Wyandanch.
They nabbed 25-year-old Willi Soto-Reyes just hours after releasing photos of him in a serial arson investigation. They had been looking for him in connection with fires sparked over a period of two and a half weeks in Wyandanch and Deer Park.
The fires began on June 6, police say, when Soto-Reyes is accused of lighting seven of them in a four-hour span.
He also allegedly torched a car. Flames spread and destroyed three vehicles altogether.
Then, police say, he set fire to an apartment building near the Wyandanch train station.
Gerri Parks was inside when it happened.
"We didn't know there were other fires going on," she says. 
But according to police, Soto-Reyes went on to light up a boat, a fence and two flags nearby.
Then he allegedly tried to rob a Sunoco gas station -- and set it on fire, too.
Dharmander Singh says Soto-Reyes threatened him with a makeshift blowtorch and demanded money.
"He's like, 'Gimme $500,'" Singh says. "I picked up my phone, and that's when he took off."
Police say he fled down Grand Boulevard and into a house -- where he knew someone. He went in and allegedly stabbed that person in the leg.
Then he crashed a stolen BMW into a tree on Long Island Avenue. Police arrested him at the scene.
Charges against Soto-Reyes include arson, attempted robbery and assault.