A Queens man who allegedly set a restaurant on fire because the eatery messed up his order has reportedly been freed without bail.
“I was very drunk. I bought chicken biryani. They didn’t give me chicken biryani. I was mad, and I threw it out,” 49-year-old Choephel Norbu told law enforcement once he was arrested, per a criminal complaint the New York Post cited Monday.
“I bought a gas can, and I threw it at the store to try to burn it out. I lit it up, and boom, it got on me,” the man recalled.
However, officials conducted a long investigation that resulted in his arrest but he was then freed without bail, per the outlet.
Norbu ordered the meal from Ittadi Garden and Grill in Jackson Heights earlier this month but claimed the order was wrong.
He apparently became upset with employees and threw the food at them. The suspect returned early the next morning carrying a bucket of gasoline and allegedly flung it on the building’s facade, prosecutors claimed.
In a social media post on Monday, the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) shared surveillance footage of the incident which showed the suspect tossing the contents of the white bucket onto the structure.
Moments later, he bent down and appeared to set it on fire. The blaze erupted and he took off in the opposite direction:
The fire reportedly caused over $1,500 in damages.
Police arrested Norbu on Friday for felony arson and criminal mischief. However, he was let go on supervised release the next day, the Post article said, citing records.
“Since the charges are not bail eligible under the state’s controversial criminal justice reforms, and the suspect had no prior criminal history, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said they asked for the strictest form of supervised release, which a judge granted,” the outlet noted.
In September, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) who is running as the Republican nominee in the state’s gubernatorial race, said he might declare a state of “emergency” regarding the crime wave to handle its bail-reform laws if he wins the governorship.
But Zeldin also said, “The problem with an [executive order] is that when the next governor comes in, they can get rid of it. I believe that the law needs to change.”
Meanwhile, rising violent crime across President Joe Biden’s (D) America is emerging as the deciding issue in the upcoming midterm elections.