Psych eval in Times Square hate slaying
A WORKER USING a welding torch on the roof of a centuryold Brooklyn synagogue accidentally sparked a fire early Tuesday that devastated the building.
Caeser Raynor, 71, is facing two counts of reckless endangerment for sparking the blaze at Bnai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael on Patchen Ave. near Greene Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 9:10 a.m.
More than 100 firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the massive blaze before it was finally brought under control more than two hours later.
Cops took Raynor, of Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, and another man doing work on the roof into custody. The other worker was released. The fire was deemed accidental, police said.
Kaveh Levi, 34, a member of the congregation was overcome with grief as he looked up at the charred ruins.
“My heart feels broken,” he said. “There are so many emotions and thoughts and memories tied to this place. I was bar mitzvahed here.
“This is one of the places that keeps me grounded, that keeps me humble,” he added.
FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Woods said the fire started while Raynor and his co-worker were on the roof using electrical equipment.
“In these old houses of worship — synagogues, churches — fire starts very rapidly,” said Woods, of Battalion 11.
Firefighters initially snuffed a large part of the fire inside the structure, but had to change tactics.
“Due to the structural stability LAWYERS for a racist Army veteran charged with killing a black man in Times Square said Tuesday it’s too soon to commit to a psychiatric defense.
James Jackson, 29, (below) bragged to police, “I really butchered him,” after the March 20 stabbing of 66-year-old Timothy Caughman.
Jackson’s lawyer Patrick Brackley, during a Manhattan Supreme Court status hearing, said he just got his client’s medical records from the Army .
Brackley wrote in June that he had hired forensic psychologist Mark Williams, but said it is premature to decide a trial strategy.
Prosecutors also turned over security video and documents to defense attorneys — who had griped that the DA’s office has been slow to release vital evidence.
Jackson, is charged with murder as a furtherance of terrorism and related charges. He admitted he looked for black men to kill before deciding on Caughman.