Detectives cuffed a suspect on Monday morning for allegedly burning a man alive during an argument in East Flatbush last September.
Police arrested 28-year-old Errol Stephenson on Feb. 1 on murder charges in connection with the Sept. 16, 2020 death of 46-year-old Patrick Winkler, who had lived a men’s shelter on East 30th Street in Manhattan.
Cops say 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 pm.
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.
