A Brooklyn man was sentenced to 14 years in prison for hurling a Molotov cocktail into a Brooklyn deli nearly three years ago, causing significant damage to the business and narrowly taking the lives of the two workers inside.
Prosecutors said Joel Mangal, 40, threw a lit device into the deli on Oct. 30, 2021, and tried to chuck a second into the store. He also stabbed a deli worker who chased Mangal as he fled.
Mangal was sentenced in court last week, one month after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Contact information for his attorney was not known.
Prosecutors had claimed the Flatbush man approached the Bed-Stuy deli before 7 a.m. and threatened to kill two employees inside. After breaking a TV screen with an apple, and then fleeing, he returned an hour later and threw the Molotov cocktail inside.
Video shared by the FDNY shows the fireball explode against the deli counter and quickly enguly a large portion of the store. One person is seen on the video stumbling through the floor-to-ceiling flames to escape through the door of the deli while another person hops the counter to break free.
"Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured. Today’s sentence holds him accountable for his actions,” DA Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
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Mangal tried to throw a second Molotov cocktail into the deli but was stopped by a passerby who knocked it out of his hand, the attorney said.
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The two deli workers chased the 40-year-old down into the Nostrand Avenue subway station was one was reportedly stabbed in the hand. They pointed Mangal out to nearby police officers who cuffed the fire starter.
