Sat Dec 06 07:00:00 UTC 2025: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Teen Charged with Federal Arson for Setting Subway Rider Ablaze
MANHATTAN, NY – An 18-year-old, Hiram Carrero, has been charged with federal arson after allegedly setting a sleeping 56-year-old man on fire aboard a No. 3 train in Manhattan early Monday morning. Carrero was arrested on Thursday and appeared before a federal judge in Lower Manhattan on Friday.
According to police reports, the incident occurred around 3:00 a.m. as the train approached 34th Street-Penn Station. Surveillance footage shows the victim asleep in an otherwise empty subway car when Carrero allegedly entered and set the victim’s legs ablaze before fleeing as the train doors closed.
The victim, still engulfed in flames, exited the train at the next stop, Times Square, where he was seen on surveillance sitting on the platform as flames continued to burn. Emergency responders extinguished the fire and transported the victim to a local hospital in critical condition. Investigators discovered charred skin on the subway seat where the victim had been sitting.
Carrero was initially arrested on state charges including attempted murder. On Friday, District Judge Valerie Caproni overruled a previous decision to release Carrero, citing the severity of the crime and ordering him to be held without bail. Carrero faces a minimum sentence of seven years if convicted on the federal arson charge.
First Piper 