Police hunting suspect for allegedly setting 11 NYPD cars on fire

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has named 21-year-old New Jersey native Jakhi Lodgson-McCray as the suspect behind the torching of several police vehicles in Brooklyn earlier this month. 

Brooklyn police say that on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at approximately 1 a.m., the suspect climbed over a gate and entered a police parking lot where he allegedly placed fire starters on the windshields, hoods, and tires of several NYPD vehicles, according to ABC/7 News. A fire ignited, damaging 11 NYPD vehicles.

"This was an attack on the NYPD but it was also an attack on the safety of the community of Bushwick," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said, adding that “we do believe that he acted alone, and obviously he targeted this location because it is a police facility.” He said that the suspect changed his disguise “several times during his escape.”

The NYPD’s social media accounts posted photos Wednesday of Lodgson-McCray, adding that “there is zero tolerance for anyone who attacks the NYPD,” per The Daily Caller. 

He was wanted previously for causing over $1,000 worth of damage last fall to a Columbia University statue during anti-Israel protests, police said. The Daily Caller reports that he has two open criminal cases, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest last month, and another for assault and resisting arrest in May 2024. He pleaded not guilty in both cases and was released without bail.