Edited by: TJVNews.com
Police arrested a man who broke into a dormitory at Yeshiva University in Manhattan and set fires using matches intended for lighting a Hanukkah menorah, The Associated Press reported.
No one was injured by the fires that were set early Friday. The suspect, 33-year-old Peter Weyand, was awaiting arraignment Saturday after being arrested on arson and other charges. It was unclear whether he has a lawyer who can comment on the charges, according to an INN report.
Firefighters responded quickly to the university’s Schottenstein Residence and put the fires out. Nobody was injured.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Weyand set three separate fires at the dorm as students slept around 4:00 a.m. Friday. The blazes were quickly extinguished.
“Attacking any religious institution is a serious crime and we have zero tolerance for acts of arson in this city,” Nigro said. “Thanks to the thorough investigative work of our Fire Marshals, a dangerous individual has been quickly apprehended.”
The fire department released surveillance video showing a man kicking out part of a glass door to the lobby and then crawling through it, briefly picking up a front-desk phone and continuing into the building.
YU security stated in an email that the intruder approached the security team at the residence hall asking for help, as was reported by the JPost. The team “immediately called 911 and did not let him into the building,” but the intruder then kicked through the glass door, entered the building and lit a “small fire with toilet paper” in the back lounge.
The JPost reported that Weyand is a freelance software developer, according to his LinkedIn. The day before the incident, Weyand posted, “They’re trying to make a martyr of me, but I’m no martyr. I’m a helper and a doer. I want to help people but I don’t know how.” Other posts from the past few days have similar messages.
JPost also reported that Stern College students who live in the residency stated that they felt that there was an alarming lack of information during the incident, but they appreciated “the quick response of YU’s security, the NYPD and FDNY.”
Beren Campus Director of University Housing and Residence Life Rachel Kraut told residents of the building that YU does not believe that the incident was a targeted hate crime, as was reported by the JPost.
CNN reported that Yeshiva University was founded as a Jewish university in 1886 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, according to its website. It now has four campuses throughout New York City. US News and World Report reported its enrollment in 2018 at just shy of 6,000 students between undergraduate and graduate programs.
