A philosophy professor arrested for walking into New York's famed St Patrick's Cathedral with gas cans and lighters had booked a one-way flight to Rome and was caught trespassing at another church on Monday.
Marc Lamparello, 37, entered the Manhattan church on Wednesday evening with the two gallon cans of gasoline before being apprehended by security at around 8pm on Wednesday night.
It has emerged that he had also booked a one-way ticket for Rome, scheduled to depart Thursday night, the New York Daily News.
Marc Lamparello, 37, (pictured) was arrested Wednesday after entering St Patrick's Cathedral church with two gallon cans of gasoline and two lighters. He is seen here being escorted out of a police precinct in New York, Thursday
Officials also confirmed he was arrested for criminal trespass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark just two days earlier - the same day that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was almost destroyed by a massive blaze.
Lamparello is a Boston College-educated philosophy professor who has lectured at Lehman College and also held several roles in the Catholic church.
On Thursday, his father insisted that he was completely surprised by the Manhattan arrest just 48 hours after a massive blaze nearly destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
'Extremely out of character,' said his father, who lives in New Jersey and did not wish to be named.
Lamparello, (pictured), was arrested for criminal trespass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark two days earlier - the same day that a massive blaze destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
'He’s a brilliant professor. His writings -- other professors can’t even understand his writings. Something happened, we don’t know.'
While police have indicated that Lamparello might be emotionally disturbed, he sounded fine earlier Wednesday in a conversation with his father.
His father added: 'I spoke to him (Wednesday) morning. 'It was just, "Hi Daddy, how are you, how are you feeling?". 'Then last night was like what the hell? That’s all I can tell you.'
He said they family were waiting to hear from the NYPD and had no details about the case other than initial reports about the arrest.
Police said that four cans of gasoline were found in total after searching the suspect's van.
Charges are now pending against Lamparello, who claimed he was cutting through the cathedral with the gasoline because his car had run out of gas on Madison Avenue, near the rear of the church.
However when cops located the vehicle, they discovered that he wasn't telling the truth.
It emerged that he had booked a one-way ticket for Rome, scheduled to depart Thursday night and a day after he was arrested at St Patrick's Cathedral with two gas cans and two lighters
Police do not yet know what Lamparello's motive was but sources have indicated that he could possibly be 'emotionally disturbed' and has been previously arrest for criminal trespass
Sources told New York Daily News that they have yet to find out Lamparello's motive and what his intentions were before he was apprehended.
The New Jersey native has previous arrests for criminal trespass and public drunkenness, sources added.
The trespassing occurred on Monday, when officers from the Essex County Sheriff’s Department went to Sacred Heart Cathedral and placed him under arrest.
Lamparello studied at CUNY student and is currently doing a Ph.D. in philosophy. He also worked as an adjunct lecturer in the Lehman College philosophy department and held a teaching position at Brooklyn College.
He served as the musical director and pianist at St. Joseph’s parish in East Rutherord for a short period of time.
He also served as the musical director and pianist at St. Joseph’s parish
