A man was arrested after allegedly dousing an NYPD officer with rubbing alcohol in an East Harlem subway station — and then threatening to light the cop on fire, police said.
James Murphy, 58, of Manhattan, was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest over the deranged attack early Tuesday morning on the southbound 2/3 platform of the 135th Street and Lexington Avenue station, according to cops.
Two officers in plainclothes were patrolling the station around 2 a.m. when Murphy approached them in a “combative manner,” the NYPD said.
The suspect then allegedly pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and splashed one of the cops with the flammable liquid, police said.
Murphy then allegedly held out a lighter and “threatened to light the cop on fire,” cops said.
He fled the scene without following through with the disturbing threat.
The two officers called for backup and then followed the suspect into a subway tunnel where they arrested him, police said.
Both cops were taken to New York Presbyterian/Columbia Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries. One of them reported stinging in his eyes from the rubbing alcohol.
Murphy also faces charges of obstruction of governmental administration, menacing, criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct over the incident, police said.
He has more than two dozen prior arrests including theft and drug possession charges, police said.