Arsonist Escapes Jail, Terrorizes Neighborhood After Torching NYC Building

Firebug Freed, Sparks Fear in Community

A Brook­lyn man who alleged­ly torched a Bush­wick apart­ment build­ing last month, injur­ing nine ten­ants, was cut loose with­out bail this week and is already ter­ri­fy­ing folks in his old neigh­bor­hood, The Post has learned.

Stan­ley Gar­cia, 63, was arrest­ed Wednes­day by cops and hit with a slew of arson charges for alleged­ly spark­ing a July 16 blaze on Ever­green Avenue. Despite the seri­ous nature of the charges, a judge released Gar­cia on super­vised release with no bail.

Residents Traumatized by Arsonist’s Return

Neigh­bors who lost their homes in the fire expressed their out­rage and fear over Gar­ci­a’s release. “I was out there on Knicker­bock­er Avenue and I saw the guy,” said Eve­lyn Gar­cia, a third-floor res­i­dent before the blaze. “I felt trau­ma­tized. I kept call­ing the cops, but they did­n’t real­ly send anyone.”

Accord­ing to court papers, the arson­ist alleged­ly tried to block ten­ants from escap­ing the fire he set by stand­ing in the doorway.

“He’s crazy,” said local res­i­dent John Pal­ma. “All of our neigh­bors in that build­ing have been com­plain­ing about the guy.”

Lack of Bail Raises Concerns for Public Safety

The judge’s deci­sion to release Gar­cia with­out bail, despite the arson charges, has raised con­cerns about pub­lic safe­ty in the community.

One ten­ant said, “Helps us to put him back, or at least to like lock him up because he almost killed peo­ple. Fam­i­lies and children.”