Detectives cuffed a Bronx man on Monday morning who allegedly burned a man alive during an argument on a Brooklyn street last September.
Errol Stephenson, 28, of Osman Place was arrested on Feb. 1 for murder in connection with the Sept. 16, 2020 death of Patrick Winkler, 46, who lived a men’s shelter on East 30th Street in Kips Bay, Manhattan.
Cops said that Osman allegedly torched Winkler after the two got into an argument at the corner of Schenectady Avenue and Rutland Road, across the street from Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, at about 9:23 p.m. on Sept. 16.
According to law enforcement sources, the two men did not know each other. It remains unclear what led up to the deadly altercation.
Police sources said that the verbal dispute turned heated when Osman allegedly drenched Winkler with an accelerant, then set it on fire.
Officers from the 71st Precinct, while on patrol in the area, spotted the burning man and rushed to his aid. They used a fire extinguisher from their vehicle to put out the flames.
Paramedics rushed Winkler to Cornell Medical Center, where he died about a month later, on Oct. 19, 2020.
