Tasered 'Petrol-Sniffer' Bursts Into Flames

Louise (Admin)

A man who had been sniffing petrol burst into flames when police Tasered him as he charged towards them brandishing a bottle of fuel.

The man, identified by his family as 36-year-old Ronald Mitchell, was in critical condition at a Perth hospital in Western Australia state.

Police said they were responding to a complaint at a house when Mitchell ran outside carrying a cigarette lighter and a plastic bottle containing what they believed was fuel.

When he refused to stop running towards them, one officer Tasered him, police said.

The man was immediately engulfed in flames, but the officer threw him to the ground and smothered the blaze with his hands, the statement said.

Mitchell was charged with assault to prevent arrest and possession of a sniffing substance.

An 18-year-old woman threw rocks at the officer as he tried to help and he was later treated for a cut on his head and burns to his hands, police said.

The woman was charged with two counts of assaulting an officer, police Sergeant Graham Clifford said.

Two others at the house in Warburton, an Aboriginal community 950 miles northeast of Perth, were charged with possessing a sniffing substance.

Mitchell's sister Morinda West claimed her brother had been sniffing petrol and that, when he ran out of the house, he was carrying a lighter and an orange juice container full of the fuel.

Police spokeswoman Susan Usher said Mitchell appeared to have received third-degree burns to about 10% of his body.

The officer who Tasered Mitchell was not suspended, Sgt Clifford said.

Saftlad · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject:

Perhaps he'll stop sniffing petrol now!

Dolly Dimple · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 7:14 pm Post subject:

I read this yesterday