Man accused of setting NYC restaurant on fire for wrong order released just one day after arrest

A New York man who admitted to setting a Bangladeshi restaurant on fire after they got his order wrong was released a day after his arrest in part because of the state’s progressive bail reforms.

Surveillance video footage shows Choephel Norbu, a 49-year-old man from Queens, approaching the Ittadi Garden and Grill in the early morning hours of Oct. 2 with a bucket of gasoline, which he dumped onto the restaurants gated front and set on fire. He is seen running away with his shoes on fire.

After his arrest on Oct. 14, Norbu told police that he was angry at the business for getting his order wrong the previous evening.

“I was very drunk. I bought chicken biryani. They didn’t give me chicken biryani. I was mad, and I threw it out,” he told authorities, reported the New York Post on Monday.

“I bought a gas can, and I threw it at the store to try to burn it out. I lit it up, and boom, it got on me.”

Today, Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh announced the arrest of Choephel Norbu. #FDNY Fire Marshals along with @NYPDnews Arson and Explosion Detectives arrested Norbu, 49, for intentionally setting a fire. Read more: https://t.co/151Huk3jDY pic.twitter.com/3Hjhiwbw5J

— FDNY (@FDNY) October 17, 2022

Workers at the restaurant said that the patron received the correct order but threw it in their faces. The fire caused a reported $1,500 in damages.

Norbu was charged with felony arson and criminal mischief but let go on supervised released after his arraignment the next day, as the charges were not eligible under the state’s criminal justice reforms and he had no prior record.

“He sets a store on fire, he planned this, why is he out the next day?” one officer fumed to the New York Post, noting they had spent nearly two weeks piecing together video footage and tracking him down.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has found herself in an unexpectedly tight race over rising crime in the state. A Quinnipiac poll from Tuesday found that 28% of the state’s voters saw crime as the most urgent issue at 28% – the issue her Republican challenger, Long Island congressman Lee Zeldin, built his campaign around. Crime was followed by inflation at 20% and “protecting democracy” at 14%.

The same poll found Hochul with a four-point lead over Zeldin – 50% to 46%, respectively.

This was not the city’s first incident this year related to a botched restaurant order. 51-year-old Glenn Hirsch was charged with shooting and killing a Chinese food delivery man after an argument at his employer’s about duck sauce. He committed suicide before his court date.