A Brooklyn merchant wound up in fire marshals’ handcuffs for improper storage of highly-flammable lithium-ion batteries inside his business — the first arrest of its kind ever reported in New York City, FDNY officials announced Monday.
Tian Liang Liu, of the Electric Bicycle Shop at 1239 Flatbush Ave., was taken into custody on April 12 in a rare criminal action by the FDNY. Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh outlined the details of the arrest during a Monday press conference at the FDNY’s MetroTech headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn.
“The FDNY E-safety task force made up of the Bureau of Fire prevention, our Special Investigations Unit, and Fire Investigations conducted an inspection,” Commissioner Kavanagh explained. “Fire marshals arrested Tian Liang Liu and brought him to the 70th Precinct to be charged.”