Man Gets 7 Years For Trying To 'Torch' Crown Heights Subway Booth

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights man will spend the next seven years in prison for trying to "torch" a booth inside of a neighborhood subway station last year, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said.

Everett Robinson, 52, walked into the Eastern Parkway subway station on Aug. 12, 2016, around 10:45 p.m. that night, the D.A.'s office said.

He walked up to the booth, where an MTA worker was station, and sprayed a liquid that smelled like gasoline inside of it, the D.A.'s office said. He told the worker, "Let me get the money or I’ll light you up," according to the D.A.

He set a folded t-shirt on fire, but when he tried to throw it inside the booth, he accidentally dropped it on the ground before running away, according to the office.

The booth's fire safety systems turned on preventing any fire inside of that area, and two passersby put out the fire outside of it, according to the D.A. The employee wasn't harmed.

Robinson was arrested four days later.

"This defendant tried to rob an MTA employee who was simply doing her job and put her and the public in serious danger when he started a fire inside a subway station, making the prison term he received today appropriate and just," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

"I am committed to protecting our dedicated transit workers, who all too often are targets of threats and violence, and will continue to ensure that those who attack them are punished."

Image via Brooklyn D.A.'s office