MANHATTAN – A BROOKLYN MAN is facing federal arson charges after allegedly setting fire to a school bus in Times Square earlier this month, the Fire Department announced on Monday.
Jonathan Strahs, 30, was arrested on Monday morning at his home.
At around 3 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, large crowds had gathered in Times Square after the New York Knicks game and a FIFA World Cup match. An empty school bus chartered for World Cup attendees had parked on West 42nd Street due to the crowd, before catching on fire. The flames spread quickly throughout the bus and set another vehicle nearby alight before the FDNY was able to extinguish it.
Fire Marshals, along with police detectives and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, conducted an investigation, and determined the fire was set intentionally. Surveillance video showed a person entering and exiting the bus shortly before the blaze broke out. Strahs was identified as a suspect following further investigation, the FDNY said in a press release.
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