BELLEVUE, Wash. — Bellevue Police Department officers said earlier this month a man poured lighter fluid on two teenage girls inside a mall them and later deliberately lit himself on fire when confronted by law enforcement.
Police said the man first physically assaulted the girls inside the food court at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue on July 13. The surveillance video above, released by police, shows part of the alleged assault.
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After he poured lighter fluid on them, police said he left the mall and went to a nearby bus stop, located at 156th Ave. NE and NE 8th St.
When officers arrived at the bus stop, they said the man immediately doused himself with lighter fluid and used a lighter to set himself on fire.
“He then decided it wasn’t a good idea and took his sweatshirt off before officers could spray him with a fire extinguisher,” a spokesperson for BPD wrote in a blotter post.
Police said the man’s face and body hair were singed.
After he was medically cleared at a nearby hospital, he was taken into custody and booked into jail on investigation of assault.
Cox Media Group
