Suspect in Long Beach fire attack is identified

Long Beach police have identified a homeless man who police said set a 62-year-old man on fire in his sports utility vehicle.

Raymond Sean Clark, 38, allegedly doused the victim with a flammable substance while he was parked in front of a 7-Eleven store about 5 p.m. Friday, said Sgt. Aaron Eaton of the Long Beach Police Department.

Eaton said the incident happened at the intersection of Clark Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, and caused witnesses to rush to the victim’s aid, but not before he was critically injured with burns over most of his body.

Clark was arrested by police just around the corner from where the attack took place.

Eaton said Clark had two failure to appear warrants. In addition to being held on suspicion of attempted murder, Clark is being held on the two misdemeanor warrants.

Robert Linkroum, who was inside the 7-Eleven at the time, told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that he looked up to see the suspect walking toward the victim’s white Toyota 4-Runner and then throwing what looked like a bottle into it.

“The vehicle went up in flames immediately, just totally engulfed. It was all flames,” he said. “It became so hot in 7-Eleven that I moved towards the back of the store because I thought the windows were going to blow.”

Eaton said a detective told him that a motive had not yet been established. There were reports that there had been an argument between Clark and the victim just before the attack, but Eaton said that had not been confirmed.

“We still have no information they knew each other or that anything had happened in the past,” he said. “This is more or less an isolated incident.”

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hector.becerra@latimes.com