BY THE VILLAGE SUN | An arsonist was on a roll trying to burn up parked cars — even including a Lower East Side Hatzalah ambulance — but police slammed the brakes on his fiery spree.
On July 18, cops collared Konrad Gumper, 46, of LaGrange, in Dutches County, NY, in connection with a string of car arsons. He was charged with multiple counts of arson, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
In the first reported incident, around 11 p.m. on July 6, Gumper allegedly tried to torch a Hatzalah volunteer ambulance parked on Grand Street a block and a half west of the F.D.R. Drive. But he only succeeded in scorching one of its back wheel wells.
Then on July 11, around 9:45 p.m., according to police, Gumper set fire to a 2023 GMC Arcadia, which is a midsize SUV, plus “a building structure,” at 90 Hudson St., near Leonard Street, in Tribeca.
On July 18 he was arrested, but not before setting fire to two more vehicles. In a brazen move, around 1:32 a.m. Gumper sparked up a flashy 2010 Lexus ES right outside the full-block federal building 245 W. Houston St.
Seven minutes later and a block to the west, the auto pyro next ignited a 2020 Nissan Altima sedan outside the Saatchi & Saatchi building, at 299 W. Houston St.
Although the New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force initially investigated the Hatzalah ambulance arson, it ultimately was not deemed a hate crime.
Police did not confirm if another recent car arson in the Downtown area, at Bethune and Washington Streets, committed around July 12, is also being attributed to the arsonist. However, it did happen within the right time frame to be part of the crime pattern.
Alternative to lithium-ion conflagration.
Are we allowed to be snarky and suggest he was part of the bicycle lobby?
But of course!
Look at those calf muscles or lack thereof and you have your answer: He doesn’t have what it takes.