The woman approaches the man who was filling his car from behind and walks away after a brief exchange. But she turns back suddenly, pulls a lighter from her pocket, lights it and tosses it at the gas pump nozzle, setting the fuel ablaze.
She then walks quickly away from the car.
Israeli media reports say the woman had asked the motorist for a cigarette but he refused her request. She set the pump and car tank ablaze with her lighter after the driver refused to give her a cigarette.
The man reacts quickly; he pulls the pump nozzle out of the car tank and takes to his heels as his car is engulfed in flames. The driver’s brother was reportedly sitting in the car when the incident happened, but he also managed to escape unhurt.
The car would likely have exploded and the man in car killed had the driver failed to pull the nozzle out of the gas tank.
Employees at the gas station, located on Beit Lehem Street in Jerusalem, extinguished the fire before it spread.
According to Israeli police, the woman, reportedly in her mid-30s, was arrested shortly after the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, April 28. She reportedly denied deliberately setting fire to the pump.
In a statement released Wednesday, April 29, Israeli police spokesman, Mickey Rosenfield, said, “A woman approached a man while filling his petrol tank and asked for a cigarette, when he refused to give it to her she pulled out a lighter from her pocket and ignited the petrol pump.”
“A woman approached a man while filling his petrol tank and asked for a cigarette. When he refused to give it to her she pulled out a lighter from her pocket and ignited the petrol pump. The car owner reacted quickly by pulling the pump that was on fire from his tank and fleeing.
“Petrol station workers extinguished the fire.
“The woman was arrested shortly after the incident and in her investigation she denied the incident.”
But the CCTV footage shows clearly the moment the woman appears to deliberately set the gas pump on fire after being refused a cigarette.
According to the Telegraph, a Magistrate court in Jerusalem has ordered an extended arrest of the woman for five days and a psychological evaluation.
