Brooklyn man accused of threatening neighbor, starting building fire charged with menacing, arson

The 37-year-old man who set fire to his Brooklyn apartment building during an hours-long standoff with police had threatened a neighbor with a knife and started the fire with a makeshift Molotov cocktail, police said Friday.

Luis Alberto, known to his neighbors as “Poncho” faces multiple felony charges including arson, arson as a hate crime, criminal mischief, intimidation and reckless endangerment for the 3:45 p.m. clash inside his Fulton St. building near Ocean Parkway in Ocean Hill Thursday.

Alberto lived in the basement of the Fulton Street building, the home of the exotic Cutz hair salonwith about 15 stray cats he took in, neighbors said. He had moved into the basement about a decade ago doing odd jobs, and was known to have a mean streak, neighbors said.

On Thursday, he allegedly threatened a neighbor with a knife and the police were called to the scene. When the police rolled up, Alberto locked himself in a basement apartment, triggering a three-hour standoff.

When the police evacuated the building – except for a cat that was left behind – and tried to get him to surrender, Alberto threatened to start a fire, police said.

At 6:45 p.m., Alberto set fire to a glass container containing a flammable liquid, sparking a smoky fire.

Firefighters and members of NYPD Emergency Services Unit stormed the basement, extinguished the fire and rescued Alberto, who was taken to Brookdale University Medical Center with minor injuries. A firefighter was also taken to Brookdale with minor injuries.

The abandoned cat was also rescued, the police said.

The front of the hairdressing salon was closed with a padlock last Friday. The tenants in the building have been moved.

Alberto remained hospitalized Friday. His arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending.