Parolee with 131 arrests arrested for setting homeless man on fire at Penn Station: police
Two people have been arrested, including a parolee whose criminal record includes 131 prior arrests in New York, for setting fire to a homeless man while he slept in Penn Station, police said Wednesday.
Damon Johnson, 47, was arrested Tuesday by Amtrak Police Department officers and charged with attempted murder and assault for Monday’s attack that left a 37-year-old man with second-degree burns to his arm and back, according to law enforcement.
And on Wednesday, Amtrak police arrested Lyla Najjar, 33, on assault charges for the attack, police said.
The victim was dozing near the West 33rd Street entrance to Penn Station’s Amtrak rotunda near Eighth Avenue when three people approached him, one of whom set the man’s clothes on fire around 8:30 p.m., police said.
A video posted online shows the victim standing, flames spreading down his arm, trying to push away his attackers who throw him to the ground. The victim can be seen struggling to remove his burning sweatshirt, the video shows.
First responders quickly extinguished the flames and transported the victim to the burn unit at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Hospital.
After the attack, the three men fled towards the police station.
Johnson, who is currently on parole for robbery until 2027, has an extensive criminal record that includes 131 arrests since he was first arrested for an assault in the Bronx in 1995, cops said.
His most recent arrest prior to his Tuesday arrest was for an assault on September 9, 2024, in which he punched and slapped a 56-year-old woman in the face during an argument on E. Tremont Ave. and Grand Concourse in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx.
Najjar has already been arrested five times, most recently for contempt of court on February 28, police said.
The arson at Penn Station comes as Mayor Mamdani’s Department of Homeless Services faces increased scrutiny after at least 19 New Yorkers died on the streets during a recent cold snap, including 15 who died of hypothermia. The majority of those who died had contact with homeless services during their lives, according to the city.
