Police have arrested the man caught on camera starting a fire next to a sleeping passenger on a Queens subway train last month, following a series of small fires he set throughout lower Manhattan, cops said Tuesday.
Skky Ifudu, 33, was charged with arson after he went on the blaze spree, which ended on a Jamaica-bound J train entering the Woodhaven Blvd. station about 3:40 a.m. Jan. 10, police said.
In video released by police, the firebug could be seen setting fire to a small pile of trash next to the head of a sleeping passenger stretched out on the seat.
Ifudu watched the flames grow before adding a paper plate to the fire and stepping off the train. The sleeping passenger was unharmed in the terrifying arson incident.
Police determined that the same man set three other fires, involving an NYPD vehicle and another car, early that same morning in lower Manhattan. There were no injuries in any of the fires.
Ifudu, who lives in Flushing, is facing multiple ongoing cases in Queens for various charges, including criminal possession of a weapon, arson, menacing and harassment, according to court records.
The heartless stunt came weeks after the death of 57-year-old homeless woman Debrina Kawam, who police say was set on fire by 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant Sabastian Zapeta at the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. station on Dec. 22.
Zapeta pleaded not guilty in the horrifying murder, claiming he was drunk and has no recollection of setting Kawam on fire.