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A 60-year-old resident, Ronald McAllister, was killed, and more
than a dozen other people were injured. Some occupants leaned
out of windows, yelling into the frigid night for help.
His lawyers declined to comment Thursday. No contact information
for any relatives of Calderon's could immediately be found.
Police said the 55-year-old is homeless.
According to a criminal court complaint, Calderon told police
he'd gone into the 13th-floor apartment of a woman with whom
he'd had a relationship. A court had ordered him in October to
stay away from her home, the complaint said.
Aiming to take the woman's gas stove and sell it so he could buy
crack cocaine, Calderon pulled the appliance and gas line out of
the wall, the complaint said. Upon smelling and hearing the gas
leak, he taped a blanket around the hole in the gas line and
left with the stove, according to the document.
The gas traveled up to the top of the 17-story building, the
complaint said. Firefighters were in the building, investigating
reports of a gas odor on the 15th and 16th floors, when the
explosion happened, officials said last weekend.
The 16th-floor ceiling collapsed onto McAllister and killed him,
the complaint said.
Residents had to evacuate the 148-apartment building, a former
public housing tower that's now privately managed. It remained
off-limits Thursday as repairs continued, the city Buildings
Department said. Officials and management were discussing how
soon residents can safely return to at least parts of the
high-rise on Bivona Street in the eastern part of the Bronx.
The Red Cross said over 350 residents of the damaged tower have
signed up for emergency assistance.
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