Summary
The deadly gas explosion in a Bronx high-rise last weekend has led to a murder charge, with prosecutors tracing the blast to a man they say disconnected a stove during a break-in and left behind a gas leak. Prosecutors said Samuel Calderon, 55, was held without bail after his arraignment on murder, burglary and other counts, according to a criminal court complaint filed in the case.
The charges stem from an explosion that sent flames surging through the apartment building’s windows shortly after midnight Saturday and killed 60-year-old Ronald McAllister. More than a dozen other people were injured, and some occupants leaned out of windows calling for help in the cold night, officials said.
According to the complaint, Calderon told police he had gone into an apartment on the 13th floor of a woman with whom he had a relationship. Prosecutors said a court had ordered him in October to stay away from her home.
Prosecutors said Calderon was aiming to take the woman’s gas stove and sell it so he could buy crack cocaine. The complaint described him pulling the appliance and gas line out of the wall, and it said he taped a blanket around the hole in the gas line after he noticed the gas leak and heard it.
Firefighters were investigating reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors when the explosion happened, according to officials. The complaint said the gas traveled upward through the 17-story building and that the 16th-floor ceiling collapsed onto McAllister, killing him.
The building, a former public housing tower now privately managed, was home to 148 apartments, according to the AP report. Residents had to evacuate after the blast, and the city Buildings Department said the tower remained off-limits Thursday as repairs continued.
Officials and management were discussing when residents could safely return to at least parts of the building on Bivona Street in the eastern Bronx. The Red Cross said more than 350 residents of the damaged tower had signed up for emergency assistance, and Calderon’s lawyers declined to comment, the report said. Police said Calderon is homeless, and the report said no contact information for any relatives could immediately be found.