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Man Arrested With Gas Cans and Lighters at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Is a Philosophy Teacher Man Arrested With Gas Cans and Lighters at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Is a Philosophy Teacher
(about 3 hours later)
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Marc Lamparello’s story seemed off from the start.Marc Lamparello’s story seemed off from the start.
It was near 8 p.m. Wednesday when Mr. Lamparello, a 37-year-old adjunct philosophy lecturer, entered St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan toting two gallons of gasoline, lighter fluid and lighters, the police said. It was nearly 8 p.m. on Wednesday when Mr. Lamparello, a 37-year-old graduate student and lecturer on philosophy, entered St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan toting two gasoline cans, lighter fluid and lighters, the police said.
Stopped by ushers, he explained he was trying to take a shortcut through the iconic sanctuary to reach his vehicle, which had run out of gas, the police said. Hours before, he had purchased a $2,800, one-way plane ticket to Rome, which was set to depart the next day.
Mr. Lamparello’s minivan, though, was not out of fuel, the police said, and a stroll through St. Patrick’s was hardly a shortcut. Spooked, church security officers flagged police officers as Mr. Lamparello turned to leave, sloshing gasoline on the floor. Mr. Lamparello was about 20 feet into the church when ushers approached him and said he could not be inside the building with the cans of gasoline, the police said. He explained that he was trying to take a shortcut through the iconic sanctuary to reach his van, which he claimed had run out of gas.
Mr. Lamparello, who lives in New Jersey, was taken into custody Wednesday night for questioning, the police said, but has not been charged with any crime. He has had prior run-ins with law enforcement and had previously been arrested in New Jersey for trespassing, the Fire Department said. Mr. Lamparello’s gold minivan, though, turned out not to be out of fuel, the police said, and a stroll through St. Patrick’s was hardly a shortcut.
His arrest came just before Easter and two days after a devastating fire tore through the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Denied entry, Mr. Lamparello left the sanctuary, sloshing gasoline on the floor as he went, the police said. He was stopped outside the church by police officers, who noticed the twin gas cans.
“His basic story was that he was cutting through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue, that his car had run out of gas,” said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism. “We took a look at the vehicle. It was not out of gas, and at that point he was taken into custody.” The incident came just before Easter and two days after a devastating fire tore through the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.
Mr. Lamparello is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the City University of New York. Mr. Lamparello, who has addresses in New Jersey and in Brooklyn, was taken into custody Wednesday night and questioned by detectives, including officers from the Police Department’s intelligence division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. He was being held on charges of attempted arson and reckless endangerment, senior police officials said.
He was a 2004 graduate of Boston College and was listed as teaching courses at Brooklyn College this spring. A philosophy academic, he had written and published his first book, “Reason and Counterpoint,” in 2016. But on Thursday afternoon, he was transported from the Midtown North Precinct to Bellevue Hospital Center for a psychiatric evaluation, the police said, and it remained unclear when he would appear in court.
Mr. Lamparello’s history with the church is murky, but his work suggests at least a baseline interest in questions of religion and higher powers. It was the second church-related arrest this week for Mr. Lamparello. On Monday night, he was arrested inside Newark’s Sacred Heart Cathedral after he refused to leave the sanctuary. He told officers the church was a house of God and should be open at all hours before throwing himself on the floor and vowing to stay.
In 2016, his author biography on Amazon.com indicated he was working on a book-length project about wrestling with the existence of God. “Said, ‘If you want me to leave, you’ll have to take me out in handcuffs,’” Armando B. Fontoura, the Essex County sheriff, said. He described Mr. Lamparello as “very respectful,” if obstinate.
At least one of the courses he has taught, Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy, touched on the idea of religion. Mr. Lamparello was taken to a police station that evening and charged with resisting arrest, defiant trespassing and interfering with the administration of law.
He was evaluated by emergency medical technicians, who found nothing wrong with him, Sheriff Fontoura said. His mother escorted him that night from the precinct to his parents’ home in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., he said.
It remains unclear what may have driven Mr. Lamparello to go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Wednesday. Police officials would not say what, if any, motive he disclosed to officers.
“There doesn’t appear to be any connection to a terror group,” said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.
Mr. Lamparello is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the City University of New York. His mother told the New Jersey authorities he had an apartment in New York City.
He was a 2004 graduate of Boston College and was listed as teaching courses at Brooklyn College this spring. The police said Mr. Lamparello also taught at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
He had written and published a book, “Reason and Counterpoint,” in 2016. His online biography on Amazon.com suggests an interest in questions of religion and higher powers; it said he was working on a book-length project that would wrestle with the existence of God.
At least one of the courses he has taught, Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy, touched on religion.
The course included “such topics as the nature and scope of knowledge, meaning and verification, the existence of God, determinism and free will, the mind-body problem, and the nature of moral judgments,” according to an online course description for Brooklyn College.The course included “such topics as the nature and scope of knowledge, meaning and verification, the existence of God, determinism and free will, the mind-body problem, and the nature of moral judgments,” according to an online course description for Brooklyn College.
Ali Winston and Michael Gold contributed reporting. Michael Gold contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.