Man charged with murder in New York City high-rise gas explosion

A deadly gas explosion in a New York City high-rise last weekend was traced to an intruder who disconnected a stove to steal and sell it, prosecutors said Thursday.

The suspect, Samuel Calderon, was being held without bail after his arraignment on murder, burglary and other charges in the Bronx blast, which sent flames surging through the apartment building's windows shortly after midnight Saturday.

A 60-year-old resident, Ronald McAllister, was killed, and more than a dozen other people were injured. Some occupants leaned out of windows, yelling into the frigid night for help.

His lawyers declined to comment Thursday. No contact information for any relatives of Calderon's could immediately be found. Police said the 55-year-old is homeless.

According to a criminal court complaint, Calderon told police he'd gone into the 13th-floor apartment of a woman with whom he'd had a relationship. A court had ordered him in October to stay away from her home, the complaint said.

Aiming to take the woman's gas stove and sell it so he could buy crack cocaine, Calderon pulled the appliance and gas line out of the wall, the complaint said. Upon smelling and hearing the gas leak, he taped a blanket around the hole in the gas line and left with the stove, according to the document.

The gas traveled up to the top of the 17-story building, the complaint said. Firefighters were in the building, investigating reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors, when the explosion happened, officials said last weekend.

The 16th-floor ceiling collapsed onto McAllister and killed him, the complaint said.

Residents had to evacuate the 148-apartment building, a former public housing tower that's now privately managed. It remained off-limits Thursday as repairs continued, the city Buildings Department said. Officials and management were discussing how soon residents can safely return to at least parts of the high-rise on Bivona Street in the eastern part of the Bronx.

The Red Cross said over 350 residents of the damaged tower have signed up for emergency assistance.