Detectives have arrested a 36-year-old homeless woman accused of setting a fire at a Queens restaurant that injured three people before also setting fires outside a nearby synagogue and funeral home, police said Wednesday.
Shaniqua Fort is facing three counts of attempted manslaughter, as well as assault, arson, criminal mischief and petit larceny for the fiery attack on the three addresses, all near Flushing and Grand Aves. in Maspeth, around 9 p.m. Monday.
Fort was arrested shortly after she set the fires, but had no identification on her. It took cops some time to identify and charge her, cops said.
She used a flammable liquid to start the fires, a police source said.
Her blitz began when she set a fire inside 888 Kitchen, a Chinese restaurant on Flushing Ave. near 61st St., cops said. The flames quickly spread to the second floor, trapping a 26-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman inside an apartment.
The man injured his hand as he punched out a window to escape the fire, police said. The woman hurt her leg when she jumped out the window to the street below.
Medics took the pair to Elmhurst Hospital, where they were expected to recover. A firefighter was also hurt battling the blaze, which was extinguished within 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, Fort headed west on Flushing Ave. to set a series of small rubbish fires, first outside of D’Angelo Funeral Home near 65th St., before finishing her spree on Grand Ave. at the Maspeth Jewish Center about three blocks away.
Those two fires were put out quickly and damage was minimal, police said. Cops caught up with Fort after the third fire. From the first fire to the last, the suspect’s rampage lasted just more than 10 minutes.
Fort is homeless. It wasn’t immediately clear why she targeted the three spots. Councilman Phil Wong (D-Maspeth) said that Fort was “emotionally disturbed.”
Her arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was pending on Wednesday.