A man with an extensive criminal record that includes 131 previous arrests was arrested in the United States after setting fire to a homeless man who was sleeping in a train station. The attack occurred at Penn Station in New York and left the victim with severe burns
.According to authorities, Damon Johnson, 47, was arrested Tuesday by police and charged with attempted murder and battery for the attack that occurred on Monday night. The assailant appeared the next day in Manhattan Criminal Court, where he pleaded not guilty and the judge ordered that he be held without the possibility of bail.
Hours before that hearing, the police also arrested Lyla Najjar, 33, who was charged with assault in connection with the same incident. Authorities indicated that Najjar has five previous arrests, most recently for contempt of court on February 28
.
The attack occurred around 20:30 on Monday at an entrance on West 33rd Street to the Amtrak roundabout at Penn Station, near Eighth Avenue. According to the police, the victim, a 37-year-old man, was sleeping in the place when three people approached and one of them set fire
to his clothes.During the court hearing, the prosecutor of the Manhattan district attorney's office, Callum Mullan, described the video footage of the attack.
A video released on the internet shows the man standing as flames spread across his arm, trying to defend himself against attackers who push him to the ground. In the images, he is also seen struggling to take off his sweatshirt that was
