NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Federal prosecutors are handling the case of a Connecticut man accused of throwing bleach and a lit Molotov cocktail at NYPD officers in Brooklyn on Saturday morning, sources told 1010 WINS.
Lionel Virgile, of Bridgeport, was transferred into federal custody late Saturday. He will be arraigned in federal court Monday after the Eastern District U.S. Attorney's Office took over the case, sources said.
The Justice Department may have jurisdiction for a number of reasons. Authorities believe that Virgile crossed state lines to carry out the attack, and there are federal terrorism charges that could apply.
Virgile, 44, is accused of throwing bleach in an officer’s face after he was pulled over for running a red light at Clarendon Road and E. 45th Street in East Flatbush just before 8 a.m. Bodycam video released by the NYPD shows a liquid being thrown at the officer.
Police said Virgile fled the traffic stop and then threw a lit Molotov cocktail at backup officers in a marked patrol car. The flaming bottle bounced off the patrol car and hit the street. The officers were not injured.
Virgile drove off again but then crashed his car into a parked SUV about a block away, where he was arrested, police said.
Sources told 1010 WINS that three additional bottles filled with liquid, believed to be Molotov cocktails, were found in the Town Car.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea commented on the incident in a pair of tweets Saturday, writing in part, "This is another reminder of how quickly a situation can change, & the dangers your cops face every day while they’re protecting NYers."
Virgile's former wife, Marie Theodate, told the New York Post that her ex-husband suffers from bipolar disorder and has been off his medication for two years. “He's not a violent person,” normally, Theodate said.
Theodate apologized to the officers on behalf of Virgile. “I'm really sorry about that because that's a really bad thing that he did,” she told the newspaper.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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