Crime & Safety
Man Burned by Stranger Tossing Molotov Cocktail
Long Beach police say the victim, a man in his 50s, was with his father outside a Pacific Coast Highway market when the attack happened.
A man suffered serious burns Friday night when a suspect threw a Molotov cocktail-type device at him while he waited for his father outside a Long Beach market.
The attack happened around 7 p.m. in the 200 block of Pacific Coast Highway, said Long Beach police Sgt. Aaron Eaton. Investigators who examined surveillance video learned that a man believed to be in his 20s wearing light-colored clothing ran out from an alley and threw a bottle with an unknown flammable liquid in it, Eaton said.
``It landed at the feet of the victim and caused him to catch on fire,'' Eaton said. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was in serious but stable condition with burns mostly to his lower extremities, Eaton said.
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The suspect fled from the scene and has not been apprehended, he said. Investigators do not know a motive for the attack and do not believe the suspect knew the victim, Eaton said.
``There is no indication at all that they knew each other. There was not a previous altercation,'' Eaton said. ``The victim's just standing there, minding his own business, when he has this object thrown at him.''
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Anyone with information about the attack was urged to call Long Beach police at (562) 570-7260.
--City News Service
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