A homeless man faces attempted murder charges in connection with a brazen daytime firebomb attack that critically wounded a 63-year-old man in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven.
The attack that was caught on cellphone video occurred Friday as a man in an SUV was parked outside the convenience store near Pacific Coast Highway and Clark Avenue in Long Beach, police said.
The suspect apparently threw a flammable liquid into the vehicle and lit it before running away, police said.
The man who was inside the vehicle was in critical condition on Saturday. Police were not identifying him, saying he was a victim of a violent crime.
"This is an unsettling crime, a horrific act," said Sgt. Aaron Eaton, a spokesman with the Long Beach Police Department.
Raymond Sean Clark, 38, was booked into the Los Angeles County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder. He also had misdemeanor warrants out for his arrest, Eaton said.
Investigators said they do not believe the victim and the suspect know each other.
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Clark, who is homeless, was arrested shortly after the attack, Eaton said.
Witnesses used fire extinguishers and water bottles to help extinguish the flames, which consumed the victim as he stumbled from the SUV.
Steve Cox, a driver of a car that was parked next to the SUV and who was inside the 7-Eleven when the firebombing happened, said he gave spare change to the suspect minutes before the fire.
"He didn’t seem like he was going to harm anybody," Cox said. "He wasn’t very aggressive or anything.