A group of gutsy Brooklynites thwarted a murderous would-be arsonist just before he tried to burn down their building — literally grabbing the Bic lighter and red gas can out of his hands, sources said Tuesday.
The worried tenants first overheard a crazed Aurelio Lopez, 59, threatening to burn down their building at Wilson and Knickerbocker Avenues in Bushwick around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, law-enforcement source said.
Lopez was furious at his ex-girlfriend, who lives in the building, sources and the woman said.
“He was drunk and banging on the door. He kept telling me to open the door,” Lopez’s shaken ex-gal pal, Maria Flores,55, told The Post.
“I kept asking him, ‘What’s wrong? ‘Stop!’ through the door,” she said.
Flores stayed inside her apartment as her ex tried to get in, but other tenants who came out in the hallway saw Lopez dousing gasoline outside her door, then try to spark a blaze with a Bic lighter, sources said.
“I only heard something outside in the hallway. But the smell of gasoline was bothering me,’’ Flores said.
The good samaritans quickly grabbed Lopez and wrestled the lighter and red gas can from his hands, she said.
Lopez was arrested inside the building and charged with attempted arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, cops said.
“He tried to set fire to the building,’’ said Flores’s daughter, who didn’t want to give her name. “My mom doesn’t want to be with him anymore. He was mad. They were together for 10 years.’’
Lopez is being held in jail on $ 100,000 bail, according to court records.
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