A 27-year-old Bradford Woods man is facing felony charges after police say he poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire at a gas station on Route 19 in Cranberry Township, leaving burn damage to a pump, a vehicle and the surrounding pavement before a passerby stepped in with a fire extinguisher.
Cranberry Township police, firefighters and emergency medical crews were dispatched to the BP station just after 7 a.m. on Saturday, according to police cited by butlereagle.com. By the time responders arrived, the fire had already been extinguished. The station's surveillance camera had captured the entire incident on video.
That footage reportedly shows Harris Dale Booker entering the store and prepaying for gas before heading back outside, where he dispensed fuel on himself and the ground around him and ignited it. The video reportedly shows Booker standing briefly in the flames before walking toward the building to remove his burning clothes. A passerby who witnessed the fire stopped and extinguished it using a portable fire extinguisher, per the same account.
Burn Damage and a Hospital Stay
The fire left charring and burn marks on a gas pump, a vehicle and the pavement between the pumps and the building, the outlet reports. Booker was treated at UPMC Mercy for burns on his arms and legs, according to the report.
As reported by Beaver County Radio, a criminal complaint against Booker was filed following the Saturday incident. Cranberry Township police said Booker poured gasoline on himself at the gas station and ignited himself, according to that report.
Text Message and Charges
Investigators said they found a text message from Booker indicating he intended to blow up the gas station, according to the report from butlereagle.com. Separately, charging documents reportedly said Booker set himself and his vehicle on fire near a gas pump in an effort to take his own life, as reported by butlerradio.com.
Booker now faces felony counts of arson and risking catastrophe, along with misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, the report notes. Under Pennsylvania law, causing a catastrophe by fire is classified as a first-degree felony if done intentionally or knowingly, or a second-degree felony if done recklessly, according to Pennsylvania General Assembly, Title 18, Section 3302. The same statute also classifies recklessly creating a risk of catastrophe through the use of fire as a third-degree felony, though that language describes the statute itself rather than any finding about Booker's conduct. Pennsylvania's arson statute, Title 18, Section 3301, separately provides that intentionally starting a fire while recklessly placing another person in danger of death or bodily injury constitutes a first-degree felony, though the evidence reviewed does not establish how that provision applies in this case.
As of butlerradio.com's November 10 report, a preliminary hearing date had not yet been set.
