Brooklyn Nightclub Arsonist Caught, Could Face 40 Year Sentence: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn man who poured gasoline on the floor of a popular nightclub and lit it on fire has been caught, officials announced.

John Lhota, 24, was arrested on federal arson charges Wednesday for the April 3 fire at Rash nightclub, which sent two people to the hospital and severely damaged the popular LGBTQ hangout, prosecutors announced.

“This was a brazen act of arson that seriously injured two people, placed the lives of residents and dozens of Firefighters in grave danger, and struck fear throughout an entire community,” said Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. “I commend our Fire Marshals for their outstanding work alongside members of the NYPD and ATF to apprehend this dangerous individual.”

Authorities caught up with Lhota only three days after the arson attack when he was arrested for assaulting a woman at his apartment building, according to court documents.

The woman ended up identifying Lhota in security footage from the arson attack, which showed him buying a red gas canister, filling it with gasoline and later dumping it onto Rash's floor, prosecutors said.

Lhota walked into Rash on Willoughby Avenue around 9:20 p.m., less than an hour before the nightclub was scheduled to fill with crowds for a DJ party, according to prosecutors and the bar's event schedule.

He was caught on the video tossing lit cigarette into the liquid, prosecutors said. When the cigarette didn't ignite, Lhota took out a lighter and ignited the gasoline, setting off an explosion and sending the bar up in flames, prosecutors said.

The fire took more than an hour to put out and sent two Rash employees to the hospital, according to authorities.

Rash — which has raised more than $100,00 on a GoFundMe — was severely damaged by the fire, officials said. The blaze also threatened to hurt tenants who lived upstairs, but firefighters were able to extinguish it before it spread, prosecutors said.

The blaze has already sent shockwaves through a neighborhood known for its nightlife and queer spaces, particularly given a spate of other incidents at similar venues.

Lhota was not charged with a hate crime for the attack, though the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force had been investigating the fire given that the Bushwick bar if frequented by the LGBTQ community.

The Rash fire came only a few months after a fire in an upstairs apartment shut down Bossa Nova Civic Club, a similar nightclub just down the block. Bossa Nova had just updated their security in the fall after a stabbing inside the club, according to reports.

Last fall, the Bed-Stuy queer bar C'Mon Everybody found a brick thrown through its window.
Rash first opened in the fall of 2021 as a venue for live jazz and electronic DJ shows, according to reports from the time.

If convicted, Lhota faces a minimum sentence of seven years and could spend up to 40 years in prison, prosecutors said.