This makes no cents.
The teen heroes who nabbed subway arson killer Sebastian Zapeta-Calil have been denied the $10,000 reward promised by the NYPD — allegedly because they called the wrong phone number to report it, The Post has learned.
The trio of eagle-eyed high school basketball players — who spotted the firebug on a Queens-bound F train hours after he allegedly burned a woman to death — were told by the reward administrators that they were ineligible for the cash because they called 911 to report their sighting instead of the Crimes Stoppers tip line.
“I think it’s such B.S. that you have to call this exact number. Most people call 911,” the father of one of the boys, Navid, told The Post.
“[Getting the money] is not why they did it, but it would be nice. This was a heinous crime and this man was caught right away because of them.”
Before Zapeta-Calil was busted for his cruel and heinous attack, the NYPD highly publicized that they were offering $10,000 to anyone giving information leading to the capture.
Navid’s father, who asked to remain anonymous, had attempted to secure the sum shortly after his son and his two pals, Kingson and Christos, made the fateful 911 call on Dec. 22.
A detective with the 60th Precinct “was adamant that police had nothing to do” with doling out the $10,000 prize and referred the Brooklyn family to its partners at Crime Stoppers — which advertises cash for a “tip that leads to an arrest and indictment.”
But a representative for the anonymous tip agency dashed the family’s hopes by allegedly claiming they weren’t entitled to the funds because Navid and his friends called 911 instead of the much longer and more convoluted 800-577-TIPS line.
“They don’t even know about the tip hotline! Look, if I see something happening in front of me, I’m not going to try to look up the hotline. I’m gonna call 911,” said the dad, who did not want his son’s full name used for his safety.
City Council Member Susan Zhuang — who this month honored Kingson, who lives in her district, for his bravery — called on the NYPD to step up.
“These teens deserve the reward! Denying them the reward is wrong. These are just kids and they are taught to call 911, not some tip line,” Zhuang told The Post.
“They made a good-faith effort to call the police who immediately caught the suspect. That is all that should matter, and we should be encouraging this type of behavior. The NYPD should immediately address this issue.”
When asked by The Post why the 14-year-olds were blocked from the $10,000 reward, the NYPD only said the “NYPD Crime Stoppers Program offers cash rewards for anonymous information provided to the 1-800-577-TIPS hotline that leads to the arrest and indictment of a violent felon. This program is supported by the New York Police Foundation and focuses on solving high priority violent crimes.”
The NYC Police Foundation did not respond to a request for comment — but did disclose that there have been certain times in the past in which reward sums are given to those who call 911 instead of Crime Stoppers.
In these case-by-case instances, the tipster wasn’t always awarded the full prize, but only partial. That determination is typically made by the foundation and the NYPD detective bureau.
The technicality is just a slice of the bureaucratic hellhole that leaves Big Apple do-gooders empty-handed, according to Guardian Angels and founder Curtis Sliwa, who slammed the hold-up.
“They make it impossible for you to collect because they run you through what I call the Bureaucratic Mumbo Jumbo. In this case, ‘Well, you called 911. You didn’t call Crime Stoppers.’ What nonsense? Just admit you don’t want to pay out. You faked everybody out,” Sliwa told The Post.
“You’ve got your man. That’s what counts, not what number you called.”
Sliwa — whose group of anti-crime crusaders resumed patrols of the troubled city subway system for the first time since 2020 — theorized that the failure to compensate the heroes will only further propel the idea that “snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches.”
“Sometimes the only way to loosen lips that have been said to sink ships is if people think they’re going to get money. This is good money. This is not bad money … It lets people know, ‘Wow, if you see something, say something — you can get money for it if an arrest is made,’” said the former Republican mayoral candidate.
Sliwa emphasized that it’s not too late — he called on city officials to fulfill its promise to the three young men, as well as honor them with a ceremony and hand them the keys to the city.
The parents of the teen heroes revealed they also aren’t giving up hope. Christos’ mother is planning to band the three families together in pursuit of the prize.
“There’s strength in numbers,” she told The Post Thursday, also asking to keep her identity anonymous.
The Kensington resident explained that her family has a long history of activism and she had worked hard to impart a strong sense of civil ethics and duty to her son — and that the city should follow through on promises made to the trio willing to put themselves in what could have been a dangerous position.
“We have every intention of pursuing this reward for all three boys. We’re incredibly proud of how carefully they clearly thought through their response in the moment,” Christos’ mother said.
“I think that they did their civic duty, and we need to reward behavior like that in the city and in the country. I’m going to work with the other parents and see what I can do.”
The process has so far been a let-down for the trio of friends, who didn’t know $10,000 was up for grabs until after they spotted Zapeta-Calil on a train on Dec. 22 and alerted cops.
They recognized him because Navid’s mom had shown them an article about the fire attack with a description of the suspect moments before the board the Manhattan-bound F train.
Cops stopped the train and soon arrested Zepata-Calil, who was charged with murder and arson for setting victim Debbie Kawam, 57, a homeless woman, on fire as she slept on a train.
Kingson, of Bensonhurst, told The Post the friends “were going crazy about it” when they realized their tip had found the real killer and a reward was being offered. But that evaporated when they realized they would be left empty-handed.
“They were very excited about this,” Kingson’s sister, Rita, recalled to The Post.
“Initially, my brother was scared and then after [the arrest] he felt really proud. He did something really good. He saved other people. The guy, if he was still at large, he might have hurt some other people as well.
“They deserve this. He is such a good kid, [as well as the] other boys. They’re such good friends — they hang out and they do something good! I’m very proud of them. They’re very brave.”
The boys have already dreamed up plans on how they would spend the cash — but are still working out how they will split it up. Christos and Navid suggested each taking $3,000 home and giving the remaining $4,000 to Kingson since he was the one who dialed 911 that day, Rita said.
Although the teens would be granted some “play money” for things like basketball shoes and NBA games, a majority of the prize money would go toward their college tuition, the families said.
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