NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- An unemployed man admitted a series of firebomb attacks in New York after he was arrested Tuesday, police said.
Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, a truck driver originally from Guyana, was charged with five counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the New York Daily News reported. The attacks, with primitive Molotov cocktails, occurred Sunday night on five targets in Queens and one across the city line in Elmont on Long Island.
Paul Browne, a police department spokesman, said another three attacks were reported after Lengend was arrested. He could face additional charges.
Lengend allegedly had grievances against those he attacked. He told police he was refused permission to use the bathroom at the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center and was ejected from a bodega last Tuesday by employees who said he was shoplifting, the newspaper said.
The house in Elmont belonged to a relative, and an attack on a house that was used as a Hindu temple apparently involved a grievance against a former occupant.
"The suspect made statements incriminating himself in each of the five firebombings, citing a personal grievance or dispute in each instance," Browne said.
Lengend made "broad anti-Muslim statements" as well, Browne said.
