NEW YORK, NY – Detectives with New York City’s 1st Precinct in Lower Manhattan have arrested a woman wanted for setting fire to a pride flag outside a South Village restaurant on Monday. According to police, 30-year-old Angelina Cando of Mott Street was arrested and charged with arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment. Police identified all three charges as being in connection with a hate crime.
From Monday: Hours after a woman set fire to a pride flag outside Little Prince, a restaurant in Manhattan’s South Village, owners replaced it with a new one.
“Defiant,” the restaurant owners said in a post on social media today after a woman set fire to a flag outside the business overnight.
According to police, at around 1:35 am, the woman, a passenger in a white SUV, exited the vehicle and set fire to a pride flag outside the business.
Detectives with the New York City Police Department’s 1st Precinct are investigating the incident as arson and a hate crime.
“It was reported to police that on Monday at approximately 1:35 am, a white four-door SUV pulled over in front of Little Prince, a commercial establishment located at 199 Prince Street,” the NYPD said today in a statement. “An unknown individual exited the vehicle’s front passenger side and approached the establishment on foot.”
The female suspect then ignited a fire to a gay pride flag hanging in front of the location.
The fire spread, causing exterior damage to the restaurant.
“The individual immediately fled back into the vehicle that was being operated by another unknown individual. The vehicle was last seen traveling westbound on Prince Street towards MacDougal Street,” police said.
No injuries were reported during the incident. Police described the suspect as a female with a light complexion and long dark-colored hair.
This incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on Twitter @NYPDTips.