Man tried to set woman's car on fire in Inwood, Nassau police say

A Far Rockaway man has been charged with arson after he tried to force his way into an Inwood woman's home then attempted to set her car on fire Thursday in the predawn hours, Nassau police said.

After failing to gain entry to the victim's home around 3:15 a.m., police said, William Witcher, 37, "ripped off a piece of his shirt and lit it on fire with a lighter before sticking the lit shirt into the victim's gas filler cap."

Witcher struggled briefly and resisted arrest when officers responded to the Bayview Avenue disturbance, Nassau police said in a news release. While in custody, he "continuously made verbal death threats," police said.

In addition to arson, Witcher was charged with other felonies — attempted burglary, making a terroristic threat, resisting arrest, and aggravated harassment — and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

Witcher was taken to a hospital for evaluation. He will be arraigned when "medically practical," police said. 

It was not clear if he was represented by an attorney.