A resident of The Bay Club in Bayside was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday, July 5, after allegedly starting a fire in his apartment on the 15th floor, according to authorities.
Christopher McDonough, 39, of 2 Bay Club Dr., has been charged with reckless endangerment and harassment in connection with the incident, a police spokesperson told QNS.
FDNY personnel arrived to extinguish the blaze at the 21-story building at approximately 12:23 a.m. on July 5. The fire was put out by 1:24 a.m., according to an FDNY spokesperson, who added that seven people were later transported to area hospitals, with firefighters on the scene accounting for five of them.
According to George Mandrin, whose father and son both live in a neighboring wing, the fire department did a good job in limiting the damage to the building to just a few floors.
“The floors underneath and just above where the fire occurred look damaged,” Mandrin said. “The floors below are damaged by water from the firemen all the way down to the lobby. I think mostly the paint has peeled off walls and ceilings.”
Police arrested McDonough shortly after, at approximately 1:54 a.m. Tuesday morning.
According to the police spokesperson, McDonough has been arrested in the past for inflicting damage to the Bay Club buildings.
The spokesperson told QNS that McDonough had previously been arrested on June 1 and charged with two counts of criminal mischief after he broke three of the surveillance cameras at 2 Bay Club Dr. with a sledgehammer. During that incident, he also destroyed another camera in the mailroom by punching it several times, the police spokesperson said.
“A security supervisor reported to police that while walking through the front entrance, he noticed a smashed glass bottle and observed the defendant throwing glass bottles to the sidewalk from an apartment window,” the spokesperson told QNS. “Upon further investigation, the defendant was found on the 17th floor and it was discovered he resides in an apartment where flames were discovered. He was removed to North Shore Hospital for evaluation. There were no [major] injuries reported and the investigation is ongoing by the fire marshal.”
