Suspect in Old Pink arson given home confinement at parents' house
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The suspect in the Old Pink arson last June will now be allowed to be placed under home confinement at his parents' home in Grand Island, the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed to WIVB News 4 on Thursday.
John Burns, 40, is the man accused of setting off the fire at the iconic Allen Street bar in the early morning hours of June 17, 2024.
In September, Burns was sent to an inpatient treatment facility to address physical and mental health issues. He returned to court in January to face charges related to the fire and has been in county jail. Conditions of his home confinement include GPS monitoring as well as substance abuse and mental health treatment.
According to an affidavit last year, Burns was approached by a patron confronting him about his behavior towards women prior to the arson. Burns allegedly attempted to fight the patron, who formerly worked security for the bar, before the patron knocked him over.
Following that encounter, Burns allegedly told the former guard, 'I'll be back motherf*****,' adding, 'I'll burn that b**** down' and 'ain't nobody going to have a job,' the affidavit states.
Video shows the building being burned down around two hours following the encounter. The affidavit said Burns appeared to start the fire with a propane plumbers torch.
Damages were estimated at $1.25 million. The bar, which had become beloved in the neighborhood, was torn down in the hours following the blaze. Fire dispatchers said on the scanner, 'how do you put a price tag on the old Pink Flamingo?'
Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Cartel enforcer' sentenced in San Diego to 28 years behind bars
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A man accused of acting as a cartel enforcer who admitted to ordering the killing of a Tijuana police officer and dozens of others was sentenced in a San Diego federal court on Friday to 28 years behind bars on drug trafficking charges. Edgar Herrera Pardo — also known as 'Caiman' — was indicted back in 2019 on a slew of federal charges tied to his alleged role as a leader of the group Los Cabos, a Baja California-based branch of the cartel Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). CJNG was one of the eight cartels and transnational organizations designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration earlier this year. Border Patrol finds 13lbs of meth plastic wrapped to man at San Diego checkpoint According to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, Los Cabos was involved in a 'campaign of violence' in the Mexican state, abducting and killing purported enemies of CJNG to maintain their drug trafficking channels through Tijuana. Herrera Pardo, 35, pleaded guilty as part of an agreement with prosecutors to two felony drug trafficking conspiracy charges for his role in the scheme, which involved directing or threatening violence against a number of people in the Baja California region, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. As part of the agreement, he admitted to roles in a number of deaths between September 2018 to November 2018, including a Tijuana police officer, cartel rivals who had provided information to law enforcement and former members of CJNG who had joined other cartels. According to prosecutors, a group chat of Los Cabos led by Herrera Pardo discussed 'well over' 100 murders. Prison officials search for man who fled San Diego County reentry program Herrera Pardo was arrested and extradited to the U.S. in 2023, court records show. The U.S. Attorney's Office says the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs assisted in the arrest and extradition process. 'This cartel sicario ordered brutal killings to instill terror and crush opposition,' interim U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a release. 'The cartel he served earned its designation as a foreign terrorist organization for a reason: its reach and ruthlessness rivaled that of any terror group. But today, his reign of terror has come to an end.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man faces nearly a decade in prison for stomping on man's head at Navy Yard Metro Station
WASHINGTON () — A man was sentenced to under a decade in prison for a violent assault that happened at a metro station last summer. The charges against 20-year-old Rashad King stem from an unprovoked incident that happened at the Navy Yard Metro Station shortly before midnight on July 20, 2024. The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) said King approached a man and started punching him until he fell to the ground. He then stomped on the victim's head more than 20 times before taking his bag. 'No Kings' events to protest Trump, military parade happening Saturday He used the bag as a weapon to strangle the man for about eight seconds and then fled from the station, court documents described. An off-duty FBI agent saw the encounter and saw King get on a Metrobus. He then flagged down a police officer and pointed him out, leading to his arrest. Officers gave the victim aid until medics arrived. At the time, he was reportedly unconscious and had 'massive swelling to the right side of his face,' according to court documents. Due to his severe injuries, he was not able to provide an immediate statement. His injuries were life-threatening and resulted in a broken nose, a brain bleed and stitches to his face. He was expected to have permanent brain damage. King pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated assault while armed. He was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison and ordered to undergo five years of supervised release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Written threat' at Lockport High School determined to be non-credible
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Lockport City School District says a 'written threat' that caused students and staff to evacuate on Friday afternoon was determined to be non-credible. No safety concerns were found, the district said. Lockport High School was evacuated shortly before dismissal Friday following a written threat found in one of the classrooms, according to Lockport City School District Superintendent Mathis Calvin III. The threat was written on a piece of paper and found on the floor just after 2 p.m. Staff brought the note to administrators. Both staff and students were evacuated to the Kenan Center down the street out of an abundance of caution. 'The Lockport City School District takes and treats issues such as this very seriously,' Calvin said. 'Every incident is fully investigated and we will follow and use our code of conduct when addressing situations such as this manner.' A full sweep of the school took place, as well as an investigation. Students were sent home and after school activities were canceled for the rest of the day. Calvin says all Lockport schools will reopen on Monday with an increased police presence on-site. The written threat comes just two days after a high school student made a similar non credible threat on TikTok, but Calvin says the two incidents do not seem related. Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
