VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – New video and 911 calls are shedding more light on a terrifying car fire as police say a 30-year-old woman barely escaped being set on fire by her boyfriend.
Police say Frank Stachulski tried, but failed to set his girlfriend on fire around 8:30 Sunday night at Belleville Plaza in Van Buren Township.
The couple was fighting and the woman ordered Stachulski out of the car, police said. But that's when he grabbed the gas can in the car and doused her, but the lighter didn't work.
So he set the car on fire and walked away. He didn't get far thanks to a bystander who called 911
A witness tried to explain that a man had tried to set his girlfriend on fire.
Operator: "Is anyone injured?"
Caller: "No. She has gasoline on her."
Operator: "What was that?"
Caller: "She had gasoline on her, but she has gasoline on her back."
Moments before, the victim called 911 but was cut off. When the operator called back, she only heard crying.
In seconds, the fire intensified.
"Everybody there was worried the fire might reach the gas tank," witness Karen Przydzial said.
Przydzial was at Starbucks across the street when she and dozens of others saw the flames.
"If you look at the McDonald's sign, the flames and the smoke were about as high as that sign over there," she said.
"It was like a scene out of a movie," Oscar Rodriguez said.
Operator: "A male set this car on fire?"
Caller: "Yes, and he ran to the gas station down the street."
Police quickly spotted the 31-year-old and cuffed him. He was arraigned Tuesday on four charges, including assault and arson.
"It's crazy but we're not surprised by it," his former neighbors said. "He was kind of violent toward people. Always trying to fight somebody."
The woman is still very shaken up and didn't want to go in front of the camera, but she is physically OK and said Stachulski is now an ex-boyfriend.