Police investigating a fire in a hotel room in New Rochelle City discovered a clandestine drug lab that likely sparked the blaze, they said.
The fire broke out in a 7th-floor room of the Marriott Residence Inn shortly after 9 pm Sunday, April 6. City firefighters who responded alerted detectives to the suspicious nature of the fire. The hotel’s fire-suppression system contained the fire to the room but caused extensive flooding on the 7th floor, New Rochelle police Capt. J. Collins Coyne said in a news release.
Detectives found cocaine in the room and evidence that the drugs were being processed into crack cocaine. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, Coyne said.
They learned that an occupant of the room was in a hospital in Queens, suffering from burns to his hand, torso and foot. That man, Pedro Marte, 47, of Manhattan, was taken into custody and remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Coyne said he expects Marte to face charges related to the drug possession and operation of the drug lab.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the police non-emergency line at (914) 654-2300 or anonymously at 914-632-COPS.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New Rochelle NY hotel room fire caused by drug lab