‘Half-baked’ bust
A “half-baked” investigation led a homeless man to spend four days in jail — including his birthday — before feds dropped charges he torched an NYPD car during George Floyd protests, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Michael Rodriguez, 33, was arrested by federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents last Thursday for setting the cop car ablaze on Devoe St. near Olive St. in East Williamsburg about 4:30 a.m. on June 2 amid the protests over police brutality.
“He was very angry when he realized he was going to be held … over the weekend and on his birthday,” said Kannan Sundaram, Rodriguez’s attorney.
“It was a half-baked investigation when they acted on it” by arresting Rodriguez, said Sundaram. “By the time it was a little more baked they found out they had the wrong guy.”
Rodriguez said the feds were “lying” about his involvement in the arson, Sundaram recounted.
“He said he didn’t do anything, and he the blaze on a cell phone.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents sought Rodriguez after viewing surveillance footage of the crime scene that showed a man “wearing a surgical mask and having curly hair” set the car on fire.
After the NYPD released an image of the firebug, a tipster led the feds to a homeless man who went by the name “Justin.”
Investigators headed to “Justin’s” regular sleeping spot last Thursday, where they found two lighters, a cell phone and a newspaper article about the arson, according to a complaint.
Three blocks away, the feds found Rodriguez, who “strongly resembles the individual from the video surveillance,” according to the criminal complaint.
A tipster identified Rodriguez as “Justin,” and he was arrested, the feds said.
Prosecutors did not immediately announce why the charges against Rodriguez were dropped. The investigation into the arson is ongoing, they said.