MANHATTAN — The man who set a Muslim woman’s sleeve on fire Saturday night was seen burning three other women, none of whom were wearing traditional Muslim clothing, earlier that evening, police said Wednesday.
The last victim, a 35-year-old dentist from Glasgow wearing a religious outfit, was window shopping on Fifth Ave. near E. 54th St. at about 9 p.m. Saturday when a man standing next to her used a lighter to set her sleeve on fire, police said.
Police later identified a suspect, a man dressed completely in black, from nearby video surveillance footage.
The same man was seen earlier that night attempting to burn three other women in the same neighborhood, according to police.
The suspect was first seen at 8 p.m. on the staircase of the Bryant Park train station at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue where he lit his lighter near the arms of two women walking toward the B/D/F/M platform, police said.
The women escaped unharmed onto a Queens-bound F train and the suspect, wearing a white T-shirt and black backpack, fled the scene in the company of a group, said police.
The suspect, still wearing a white T-shirt and in the company of two men and two women, appeared 45 minutes later in front of Trump Tower at 727 Fifth Ave. where he flicked his lighter near the leg of another woman, police said.
The woman was unharmed and continued to walk north toward East 57th Street and the suspect continued walking south, police said.
Police also released new surveillance footage of the suspect, whom they describe as standing at 6 feet tall with a thin build.
