Disgruntled employee douses women in gasoline and sets them on fire outside Detroit workplace
A disgruntled employee doused two women with gasoline and set them on fire outside a workplace in Detroit, Michigan.
An unidentified male suspect who had recently been “suspended or fired” from Tompkins Products confronted his former coworkers – one in his 50s and one in his 60s – around 6 a.m. Monday morning.
He is said to have doused the vehicle they were in with gas and set it on fire, after which he fled the scene.
Detroit Police Chief James White said the angry man targeted the women because he saw them “as part of the reason for his suspension” from the company, which supplies screw guns.
The female workers were taken to a nearby hospital after suffering severe burns to their faces, necks, upper bodies and shoulders. They are expected to survive.
A man extinguished and set fire to a car while two female employees were inside outside Tompkins Products in Detroit, Michigan Monday morning
Detroit Police Chief James White (pictured) said the angry man targeted the women because he “saw them as one of the reasons he was suspended” from the company.
The man attacked the women as they got out of the car in which they had arrived together for their shift that morning.
He then poured gasoline over the outside of the vehicle and then turned a lighter on it, said Dennis Richardson, chief of the Detroit Fire Department’s fire investigation division.
Richardson said WDIV It appeared the woman had extinguished herself when emergency services arrived.
Thomas Saldana, an employee who witnessed the horrific act, said WXYZ He chased after the suspect and pushed him off his bike while two other bystanders held him down until police arrived a few minutes later.
āI heard a couple of ladies screamingā¦ I saw the inside of her car go up in flames,ā Saldana said.
“I walked over and set them on fire. All I heard was screaming.”
According to Saldana, the two men who helped him apprehend the suspect “may have abused him a little bit” before holding him until police arrived.
Thomas Saldana, an employee who witnessed the horrific act, chased the suspect and pushed him off his bike while two other bystanders held him down until police arrived a few minutes later
The suspect was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
He is expected to face criminal charges, including attempted murder, White said.
“My last briefing was that it was likely attempted murder. But we’re going to pursue some additional charges.
“Fire is looking at a number of things including some arson charges. But we’re going to be looking at at least an attempted murder charge,” White said.
The sheriff added that the suspect “did not appear to be intoxicated” at the time of the incident, but that he had “a very violent history.”
“We’ve had contact with him in the past with the police, and for very violent acts. I don’t want to have a tainted jury pool by talking about previous bad acts or anything like that, so we’ll leave it at that.
The female workers were taken to a nearby hospital after suffering severe burns to their faces, necks, upper bodies and shoulders. They are expected to survive
āHeās been arrested multiple times. I can safely say that,ā White added.
He called the incident āunfortunateā and āoutrageous, regardless of the conflict you have.ā
“It’s just terrible to have to resort to these kinds of reactions.”
Detroit police told DailyMail.com that “no further information is available at this time,” including the identities of the suspect and victims.
DailyMail.com contacted Tompkins Products for comment.