They got a hot tip.
Cops this week busted one of three men they say lit a cop car on fire in Brooklyn during George Floyd protests more than six months ago, authorities said Thursday morning.
Matthew Piscitello, 21, of Dyker Heights, was identified through tips and taken into custody near his home at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday in connection to the May 29 incident, in which cops say he tossed a flaming item into a police van in Fort Greene.
Piscitello said nothing as he was walked out of the 88th Precinct late Thursday morning, wearing all black and looking down at the ground.
Piscitello and two others allegedly used incendiary devices to send the marked, unoccupied police van up in flames at the corner of South Portland and Dekalb Avenues around 9 p.m., as a crowd stood around them, video released days after the incident shows.
Piscitello was charged with three counts of criminal mischief, two counts each of arson and reckless endangerment, and one count of riot, police said.
He was arrested once before, for criminal mischief in July of 2018, when he threw and damaged a woman’s cell phone during a fight inside a Dyker Heights home, cops said.
Piscitello was with the woman’s daughter at the time, though their exact relationship was unclear.
He was arrested once before, for criminal mischief in July of 2018, cops said.
One of three men cops say lit a cop car on fire in Brooklyn. DCPIThe other two suspects were still on the loose Thursday.
One is described as a man seen in a red hoodie and later a different, multi-colored one — and another man wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans with holes.
The investigation leading to Piscitello’s arrest was a joint effort between the NYPD and fire marshals, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said outside the precinct.
