New York Crime: Man set on fire in Times Square, suspect at large

Police are still hunting for the attacker, who knew his victim and apparently grabbed something containing flammable liquid off a nearby cart and used it to torch the 45-year-old man at the corner of West 41st Street and Broadway in Manhattan just before 4 a.m., officials and law enforcement sources told New York Post.

Videos circulating on the social media show the moments immediately after the attack occurred.

The victim and his attacker had been engaged in conversation at the food cart before the incident, sources said.

The victim later went to a local club after the conversation.

When he came out, the suspect is believed to have grabbed something off the food cart and used its contents as an accelerant to set him on fire, sources said.

Investigators separately told The Post they believed the accelerant was 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.

But sources said that theory does not appear to be accurate now.

The victim reportedly ran for 100 feet after he was set on fire when a person approached and doused the flames with powder from fire extinguisher.

'Scary In Morning'

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.”

Investigators are trying to find footage from nearby business establishments to nab the suspect.