A man was set on fire in Times Square early Sunday in a horrifying attack possibly fueled by the contents of a bottle of Patron tequila, leaving the victim with burns all over his face and arms, authorities said.
Police are still hunting for the attacker, who threw some kind of accelerant on his 45-year-old victim at the corner of West 41st Street and Broadway in Manhattan just before 4 a.m. and lit him on fire, officials said.
It’s unclear whether the men knew each other, authorities said.
Video from the scene shows the moments immediately after the attack.
The footage shows the torched man standing on the sidewalk shirtless and huddled in a blue blanket as he is clearly in pain and covered in burns.
BREAKING: NYPD Hunts Suspect Who Set Man on Fire in Times Square Attack
Police are searching for a suspect who doused a 49-year-old man with liquid and set him on fire near 41st Street and 7th Avenue around 3:55 a.m. pic.twitter.com/QQ2kgkZF4N
— MAGAgeddon (@MAGAgeddon) March 16, 2025
Authorities place him inside an ambulance as dozens of first responders stand nearby.
The footage also shows cops talking to a female apparent companion of the victim. The woman was wearing a short dress and high heels.
Investigators told The Post they believe the accelerant was being held in a small, glass Patron bottle, which was found at the scene in the middle of where the two men were during the attack.
The victim ran about 100 feet while on fire before someone ran up and doused him with the powder from a fire extinguisher, authorities said.
A Brooklyn woman who works at a nearby restaurant told The Post the area gets “pretty scary” early in the morning — and there aren’t many cops around to help.
“[The victim] looks familiar,’’ said the worker, Anne Lee, 26. “I see him hanging around here when I have to come in early.
“Yeah it’s pretty scary before 8 or 9 a.m.,’’ she said. “There are no cops on these blocks at all. These side streets. They’re really only on the avenues, and they only give directions to tourists.”
EMS took the victim to New York Presbyterian Cornell hospital, where he is in stable condition, police said.
The suspect fled north on Broadway, fire marshals said.
Authorities were struggling to get security camera footage from nearby businesses to try and identify the suspect, sources said.
