Man arrested entering St. Patrick’s Cathedral with cans of gas, lighters

MANHATTAN — A man was taken into custody after he tried to enter St. Patrick’s Cathedral with several gallons of gasoline on Wednesday night, police said.

Authorities said the man could be seen on area security cameras parking a minivan on 5th Avenue and walking around the area.

The man returned to his vehicle around 8 p.m. and then tried to bring two 2-gallon cans of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and two extended, butane lighters controlled by a trigger, into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, police said.

A security officer confronted the man after he entered and told him he could not bring the items inside. Some gasoline spilled on the floor as the security officer turned the man around, police said.

The man later told police he was just cutting through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue and that his car had run out of gas, officials said. Police checked his vehicle; it was not out of gas.

Five police vehicles were seen out front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Counterterrorism NYPD officers were at the scene.

People were told to expect a heavy police presence in the area.

Aa spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York said an “individual was stopped as he tried to come into the cathedral.” The man was turned over to the police and nothing happened inside the cathedral, according to the spokesperson.

This comes just days after a devastating fire at Notre Dame in Paris. The spire at the cathedral collapsed as Parisian firefighters battled that massive blaze.

via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/17/nypd-investigating-incident-at-st-patricks-cathedral/