NEW YORK (Diya TV) — Vikram Chatwal, a New York hotelier and socialite has been accused of setting a stranger’s two dogs on fire outside his Manhattan home.
Chatwal, 44, whose family own the New York hotels Night, Time and Dream, reportedly used a lighter and aerosol can to attack the dogs Friday afternoon.
“It was like a fire-breathing dragon, shooting out flames two-to-three feet long,’ witness Roxanne Robles told Page Six. ‘This isn’t OK. You can’t walk the streets lighting dogs on fire and think your life can go on as usual.”
Chatwal screamed, “They must die!” as he attacked the animals outside his SoHo home at 21 Wooster Street, witnesses said. He reportedly “babbled” that the dogs must be killed because of their “fleas,” another witness said.
The multi-millionaire has had previous run-ins with the wrong side of the law in the past — he was arrested for drug possession in 2013. Bystanders, including Robles, said they managed to separate Chatwal from the terrified animals, who suffered minor burns.
Video obtained by TMZ shows Chatwal talking to witnesses after the alleged attack, sounding confused. He apologizes repeatedly, and invites the dog owner into his home to show her his “water collection.”
“It’s dripping with water,” he promises.
At one point he shouts at the crowd that he is “not fine” and, “we’re not all fine.” He then amends that to, “I’m fine.”
Chatwal was arrested in April 2013 at Fort Lauderdale airport after trying to get on a plane while carrying heroin, cocaine, pot and prescription pills, TMZ reported at the time. He was sentenced to 12 months of in-patient rehab. He is to be the subject of a reality TV show next year, Page Six reported.
