Christine Sherbuk is 41 years old, and that night she was simply doing what anyone would do: fueling her Volvo.
It was 8 p.m. at a Mobil gas station in St. Petersburg, Florida, when a woman she did not know approached her. She asked for her phone. Christine refused. She asked for money. Christine refused that too. According to police records, that double refusal was the last thing that happened before the stranger lit a lighter and set fire to the gasoline flowing from the pump hose.
The fire spread to the SUV and the pump within seconds. Christine suffered second-degree burns to her arms and back and was transported in serious condition to Tampa General Hospital. The suspect, Eleanor Crawford, also 41, was arrested a few blocks away and faces charges of attempted murder and arson, with bail set at 350.000 dollars. A witness, Scotty Gramling, had already seen her arguing across the street minutes earlier and had alerted police for that very reason.