(HorizonPost.com) – During a 12-hour period last week, there were two separate incidents at gas stations in Detroit involving fire, Fox2 Detroit reported.
At a downtown Speedway station, a suspect attempted to set fire to an SUV, and just hours later, an angry customer used gasoline and a blow torch to set a Sunoco gas station on fire.
At the incident at the Sunoco, the suspect came inside the store to pay cash for gas, then instead of filling up his vehicle, used the pump to fill a trash can with gasoline. He brought the trash can inside the store and poured it onto the floor. After exchanging words with the clerk, the suspect then ignited the gasoline with a blow torch.
The clerk was forced to run through the fire to escape the store, suffering first-degree burns. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released.
Detroit Police Chief James White described the surveillance video of the incident as “horrific.”
White said while a motive was unknown, it was clear that the suspect is someone who is “not dealing with their normal state of cognition.”
Within hours, police arrested the suspect. While his name was not given, police said the suspect is 35.
Chief White said the suspect will be charged with arson and attempted murder. Other charges may also be added, White said.
Just hours before the Sunoco arson, HAZMAT crews rushed to the Speedway in downtown Detroit after a 58-year-old man drove up in an SUV filled with accelerants. The suspect attempted to set fire to the vehicle twice, however, he failed to ignite it.
While HAZMAT and arson investigators worked the scene, the man was spotted by a police detective lingering nearby and he was arrested.
According to Chief White, the man appeared to be struggling with emotional issues.
He told reporters on Tuesday that it was a coincidence that these two suspects “made horrible decisions within 12 hours of each other.”
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