A man poured gasoline around a Chevron gas station and tried lighting it on fire, West Palm Beach police say.
Ricky Carreker is charged with arson to the gas station at 1229 N Dixie Highway with people inside.
A gas station attendant told officers he saw Carreker panhandling outside and asked him to leave several times. The attendant said Carrerker became mad when he told him to leave on Aug. 23 and threatened to light the gas station on fire.
A witness told police he saw Carrerker pour gasoline around the store and try to light it with a lighter.
The officer reported finding Carrerker and said he smelled like gasoline.
The officer said he could see some gasoline on the concrete around the station and the doors smelled like gasoline. He found a charred piece of paper near the gasoline puddle, the officer wrote in a report.
Carrerker told the officer he was made an attendant approached him with a baseball bat several times, telling him to leave. He said he poured gasoline around the store to scare the attendants. He said he lit a cigarette, not the gasoline.
The officer placed Carrerker under arrest and a judge ordered him to be held at the Palm Beach County Jail on $50,000 bond.
