BROOKLYN, NY – An elderly man ended up in critical condition when a dispute over money turned violent. Denise Wylie, 62, reportedly lit her 73-year-old neighbor on fire after he deferred payment of a debt that he owed her.
The incident occurred inside their shared apartment building on Chester Street in Brooklyn around 5 p.m. on Sunday. According to the police, Wylie’s fury was triggered when the man, considered a former friend, said he would pay her the following day.
As the argument became heated, Wylie allegedly doused the man with gasoline on his face and back before setting him alight. The man suffered second and third-degree burns and was promptly transported by EMTs to a burn center in Staten Island Hospital.
Wylie was arrested on Monday and now faces charges including attempted murder, assault, menacing, and criminal possession of a weapon. She pled not guilty to these charges during her arraignment on Tuesday morning in Brooklyn Criminal Court. Judge Keshia Espinal set bail at a hefty $500,000. It’s not Wylie’s first run-in with the law; court records reveal she had run-ins with the police for drug charges in 2016 and 2017.
The exact nature of the debt between Wylie and her elderly neighbor remains undisclosed by the NYPD.