November 30, 2003 -- A terrified teen, who was working at his family's deli early yesterday morning when two thugs firebombed the place, tried desperately tried to douse the flames before fleeing for his life, police and family members said. Diyazan Alsaidi, 18, who was alone and working the cash register, was able to escape the intense smoke just minutes before the store's air conditioner exploded and burst into flames.
Police said Alsaidi's father, Mohammed, 50, whose family is from Yemen, told police he had no idea who or why anyone would want to purposely set fire to his modest deli in Jackson Heights at 75th Street and 31st Avenue.
"I don't know, somebody just burned it," Mohammed told The Post.
He said that over the years, kids have attempted to shoplift at the store, named Pop's.
"Maybe it's kids I argued with or someone I caught stealing over the years, who knows?" Mohammed said.
Police said they were not treating it as a bias crime.
Diyazan said he was working behind the counter at around 12:15 a.m. when "I saw two black guys dressed all black in their early 20s standing by the door.
"One had a lighter and one was holding a cardboard box. The cardboard box looked like it had something on it like gasoline. One of them lit the lighter and lit the cardboard box. The other one tossed it in the store and they both ran away.
"I came from behind the counter, trying everything to put out the fire. I used a fire extinguisher, then I tried the coffee in the coffeepot.
"I ran outside, I called 911 on the pay phone. Then I called my dad. I said the store's on fire."
Diyazan said the firefighters arrived in five minutes.
One of the 60 firefighters who responded to the blaze said he saw the "flames shooting 20 feet into the street.
"The people who did it firebombed the front of the store, and the owner is very lucky because with these kind of stores, they usually lock the back door, and it would have been worse," he said.
Additional reporting by Murray Weiss
