Shocking surveillance video shows a man bounding two women together at a convenience store, dousing them with lighter fluid, and setting one of them on fire.
The incident took place on Thursday at the Pit Stop convenience store in Palestine, Texas.
Police say Robert Thompson, 40, walked into the store with a handgun.
Surveillance video shows the suspect asking the store clerk, Linda Camire, for something from behind the counter.
When she turns her back, Thompson pulls out his handgun. He then walks behind the counter and forces the clerk into a corner, according to KLTV-TV.
As the clerk is forced to the ground, Thompson opens the cash register. Police say he took between $700-$800.
In the video, Thompson is seen pouring lighter fluid on the two women as they lay bound helplessly behind the front counter.
‘He started taping me up everywhere and said as long as I was quiet and didn’t speak I’d be fine,’ Camire told KXAS-TV.
Camire said her eyes were covered, so she could only hear what was happening as Thompson doused both women with flammable liquid.
‘I was praying the whole time that [god] would help me, save me, that’s what I did,’ said Camire.
The customer has been identified as Della Witt-Denizeri. She was rushed to the burn unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. She suffered burns to her head, face, and neck. Camire was not injured in the attack.
The police chief said Thompson fled in a white Malibu or Impala on Highway 155.
The car was driven by a female, who is being questioned by police, according to Harvey.
Thompson was later found at a different gas station in the city. He has been charged in the past with drug-related crimes.
He has been arrested on a warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated robbery.