[Update: Videos] Arsonist Caught Sparking Fire At Newkirk Medical Plaza Last Night

Last night, an arsonist was arrested for sparking a fire at the Newkirk Medical Center, on Newkirk Avenue between Marlborough and Rugby Roads.

“I was watching the live surveillance video and saw him moving from room to room,” said Yehuda Miller, executive director at the Newkirk Medical Center.

Miller said he called the police precinct and the FDNY, and continued to see the man walking through the building with a flashlight, and possibly bottles. “I saw that he was going out the back exit, and police gathered to wait for him and caught him right there,” said Miller.

[Updated 2:30pm: Surveillance footage from 1414 Newkirk Avenue shows the arsonist creeping through the building. Submitted to DPC by Yehuda Miller]

49-year-old Michael Walker, who is pictured draped in white clothing, was arrested while trying to flee the scene, at 11pm on Tuesday, September 13, said cops. Walker was charged with burglary, arson, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, intent to damage property, and criminal trespassing. [Update 9/15: At the time of his arrest, Walker was on parole for a previous burglary, according to 70th Precinct Deputy Inspector James Palumbo. In addition, Palumbo revealed that the perp is deaf and has been unable to communicate verbally with officers.]

Another witness said that the perp had rolls of $100 bills on him, but the police could not confirm that detail.

But the story doesn’t end there. “Three hours later, after the initial fire was put out, we heard a crackling in the ceiling and the fire reignited,” said Miller. “The FDNY came back and said ‘we’ve heard of a double rekindle, but a triple rekindle has never happened.'”

According to FDNY, the alarms sounded at around 4am this morning, Wednesday September 14 and the fire was under control by 5am, said FDNY. The fire department came back to the location three times between last night and this morning, confirmed one firefighter at the scene.

At the scene this morning, the building’s entrance looked unharmed except for the broken windows and the charred smell lingering on the street. Nurses and medical workers gathered outside the building waiting for their assignments, as morning patients trickled in and wondered what to do next.

“We’ve got some 100 people working here and have been serving the community for eight years,” said Raz Winiarsky, Orthopedic Surgeon and building owner at 1414 Newkirk Plaza. “We have creators in this world and destructors, what are you going to do.”

This isn’t the first time the Newkirk Medical Plaza was targeted — last May a vandal smashed the building’s doors with a hammer and threw a Molotov cocktail inside. We contacted the police for an update on arrests made in that case and will update as we learn more. [Update 9/15: Police released video surveillance of the molotov cocktail break-in suspect, but confirmed that the investigation is still ongoing.]

[Update at 2:30pm. Brooklyn Premier Orthopedics, at 1414 Newkirk Avenue, is closed until further notice. The office has cancelled all appointments for this location for the remainder of the week. Practice representatives are working to contact patients to reschedule appointments.]