TORONTO – Police in Jerusalem have released surveillance camera footage showing the moment a woman sets a stranger’s gas pump on fire at a Jerusalem petrol station.
The alleged reason: he refused to give her a cigarette.
Footage released by Israel Police and shared on their Facebook page shows the bizarre and potentially dangerous crime, as the man’s vehicle, the pump, and much of the gas station go up in flames in a matter of seconds.
Police said no one was seriously hurt in the blaze, including the man’s brother, who happened to be sitting in the passenger seat of the car when the fire was set.
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The driver of the vehicle said the woman approached him at a gas station in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood to ask him for a cigarette.
He refused, and after a brief exchange of words the woman departed – but not for long.
Seconds later she returns, puts a lighter to the end of the man’s gas nozzle, igniting a blaze.
Police arrested a 35-year-old woman believed to be the suspect a short time later. She denied having started the fire and said the person in the video is not her.
However, the driver of the vehicle said he was acquainted with the woman, adding that she frequents the gas station asking strangers for spare change.
“I told investigators I feel sorry for her because it seemed she was in serious distress. She approached me, asking for something, but I couldn’t understand her,” he told Israeli news outlet Ynet.
“Me and my brother, who was sitting in the back, were incredibly lucky. It took us a moment to process that a miracle had occurred.”
Meanwhile, Channel 2 in Israel is reporting that the suspect’s mother has already contact police, saying her daughter suffers from mental disorders and her condition has deteriorated in recent months.
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