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NYU Student Allegedly Set Sleeping Classmate On Fire, Serenaded Her
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 21, 2015
Modified Jan 21, 2015
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 21, 2015
Modified Jan 21, 2015
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A former NYU student is charged with reckless endangerment and assault after he allegedly set a sleeping classmate's bedding on fire, sang to her as she fought the flames, and then shared footage of the hilarious prank on Snapchat. And we thought the only thing NYU kids burned was their parents' money (sorry).
Jaime Castano, 20, was arraigned on Monday, nearly five months after the incident, which occurred on August 24th in Castano's Lafayette Street dorm room. According to investigators, an unnamed student fell asleep in one of the beds in the room the night before, and awoke around 6 a.m. to discover holes and burn marks to the comforter on the bed, burns to her clothing, and painful burn marks on her torso. Police say Castano admitted to her that he set the comforter on fire, which caused scarring to her torso.
The young woman whom Castano set ablaze was apparently intoxicated, and had no recollection of the fire, but a video captured on Castano's phone showed her waking up and trying to put out the flames while Castano sang to her. As one does. The criminal complaint doesn't say what song Castano sang, but there's really only one perfectly insufferable choice to accompany something as stupid as this.
The victim reported the assault to school officials, and Castano was expelled from NYU after an internal investigation. We asked the university why the incident wasn't immediately reported to police, and NYU Spokesman John Beckman sent us this statement:
"The University, from the outset, took this case very seriously. After the University was notified about the incident, we rapidly pursued a disciplinary case that led to the expulsion of the assailant.
"From the very beginning, the University spoke with the victim about involving the police. It has been the University's practice to give a significant degree of deference to a victim's wishes regarding involving law enforcement; when, after some time, the victim ultimately indicated a wish to go to the police, the University accompanied her.
"In retrospect, at least when the facts became clear, this case clearly should have been reported to the police, not withstanding the reluctance of the victim. We are conducting a full investigation as to how a different decison was made in this case and clarifying our decision-making process so that cases like this are reported to the police immediately in the future."
Castano's bail was set at $25,000; he's due back in court on Friday.
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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