Overview
- Samuel Calderon, 55, was arraigned in the Bronx and ordered held without bail on charges including murder, manslaughter, assault, burglary, petit larceny, criminal contempt and harassment, with a court date set for Tuesday.
- According to the criminal complaint, Calderon told police he went to take the stove to trade for crack, heard gas hissing, taped a blanket over the hole and left; surveillance video captured him trying to move the appliance.
- Fire officials say gas traveled upward as firefighters probed odor reports on the 15th and 16th floors when an explosion erupted, and the 16th-floor ceiling collapse killed resident Ronald McCallister, 60, while a 37-year-old man remains in critical condition.
- The 17-story Boston Secor Houses remains vacated with utilities shut off; officials say 148 apartments were cleared, more than 175 residents were displaced, and the Red Cross reports assisting hundreds.
- Court papers state the stove was taken from a 13th-floor unit where an order of protection barred Calderon, who police say has more than 25 prior arrests; he was arrested Wednesday after being spotted back at the building.