Long Beach Man Set Afire. Did He Refuse a Panhandler?

A Long Beach man was set on fire outside a convenience store by a homeless man Friday, police said, and witnesses told reporters the victim had refused to give the panhandler money.

It is the second time in about six months that a man has been intentionally burned by a flammable liquid-sparked fire outside a Long Beach convenience store. Another man was burned with a 'molotov cocktail' in an October, 2012 attack, but a suspect has been arrested in that crime, which police said was caught on video that no longer seems to be posted.

In Friday's attack, the 63-year-old victim had returned to his vehicle about 5:15 p.m. after buying something inside the 7-11 store on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach when the homeless man allegedly tossed flammable liquid into the victim's SUV, police said.

Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton said the victim, whom the department was not identifying becauses he is a crime victim, suffered serious burns over most of his body and remained hospitalized Saturday in critical condition. Detectives were still reviewing security video to confirm witness reports to ABC7 that the victim had refused the beggar money, said Eaton, adding:

``The victim was just sitting there (in his vehicle) minding his own business."

It was good Samaritans who witnessed the attack, reported it to police and led them to the suspect a block from the 7-11 at PCH and Clark Avenue, according to police and City News Service reports.

Arriving officers arrested Raymond Sean Clark, 38, on suspicion of attempted murder and he was being held on about $500,000 bail Saturday at  the Los Angeles County Sheriff''s Inmate Reception Center.

Seated in his Toyota 4-Runner when the attack occurred in the parking lot of the 7-11 in the 5100 block of Pacific Coast Highway, the witnesses said. Robert Linkroum, who was inside the store at the time, told reporters the suspect threw a bottle into an open window of the SUV, which immediately burst into flames. Video showed the Toyota 4-Runner completely engulfed in flames. Eaton said investigators had no information that two men knew one another or had a confrontation before the attack.

The victim, on fire, managed to get out of his flaming SUV where good Samaritans used water from the convenience store trying to save him, Eaton said. 

--City News Service and Nathan McIntyre contributed to this report