New York Fire Bomber Tells Cops He Had Grudges

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  • Ray Lazier Lengend, accused of involvement with hurling crude Molotov cocktails at an Islamic cultural center and four other New York-area sites on New Year's Day, is led out of the 103rd precinct in Jamaica, Jan. 3, 2011, in Queens, N.Y.

The accused New York City firebomber had a grudge with four of the places that he tried to set on fire with a series of flaming Molotive cocktails, sources tell ABC News.

The fifth attack, targeting a Hindu temple, was actually the result of a wrong address, sources said. He meant to attack a drug dealer instead.

Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, began his fiery revenge campaign Sunday night when he hit several locations around the borough of Queens after fillling Starbucks bottles with gasoline. The attacks were initially suspected to possibly be hate crimes.

Lengend told police he tried to firebomb an Islamic center for not letting him use the bathroom. He threw flaming bottles at the homes of  two individuals with whom he had personal conflicts, and at a deli where the owner caught him shoplifting, the source told ABC News.

Surveillance video of a gas station in Queens showed Lengend filling the Starbucks bottles with gasoline while pretending to fill his car's gas tank, the source said.

The suspect was caught after police said they tracked a vehicle seen at one of the locations and waited for him to arrive back at the car before arresting him Tuesday.

Lengend is also accused of stealing the vehicle from John F. Kennedy Airport, and has an extensive criminal history including weapons possession, check-kiting and crack possession.