Westminster : Officer Suffers Burns in Fighting Car Fire
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A police officer who stopped to extinguish a car fire in a parking lot early Wednesday suffered first- and second-degree facial burns when the vehicle exploded, authorities said.
Officer Ron Velez, 25, was hospitalized and later released, police spokesman Larry Woessner said. Investigators believe that the fire was intentionally set, he said.
Velez was patrolling the neighborhood around Sugar’s Bar on Garden Grove Boulevard about 1 a.m. when he spotted the car in flames. Woessner said Velez grabbed a fire extinguisher from his patrol unit and approached the burning car.
According to Woessner, Velez later told a backup police officer that he “heard the gas tank boiling” as he stood about 15 feet from the burning car.
As Velez backed away, the car exploded, Woessner said. Bar patrons pulled Velez inside the building.
Investigators suspect a prankster placed cardboard and paper from a nearby dumpster on the car’s gas tank, then lit it with a match.
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