NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The suspect in a string of New York City firebombings was arraigned Thursday in the hospital where he was being held for psychiatric evaluation.
Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, was quiet during the brief hearing at Bellevue Hospital Center, the New York Post reported. He was formally charged with arson.
Assistant District Attorney David Jeffries said prosecutors will ask for four consecutive sentences of at least 25 years. He said Jeffries targeted occupied places with the potential for "carnage."
In fact, no one was injured Sunday night and the crude Molotov cocktails hurled at four buildings in Queens and one across the city line in Elmont, N.Y., did little damage.
The targets included a mosque, the al-Khoei Benevolent Center, a neighborhood deli and three homes, including one that is also a small Hindu temple.
Lengend, an unemployed truck driver originally from Guyana, allegedly confessed to police after his arrest Tuesday.
"I hate all Muslims and Arabs," he allegedly said. "They've been trying to take over my life for 40 years."
