A 41-year-old woman was set on fire at a petrol station in Saint Petersburg, Florida, after refusing to give money to a stranger to whom she had just lent her phone. The attack, which left the victim with serious second-degree burns, has prompted Florida's lieutenant governor to publicly condemn the assault and call for greater public safety, describing the incident as "horrifying" given how ordinary the victim's actions had been.

Police say Eleanor Crawford, also 41, approached the woman as she filled up her Volvo SUV on Thursday, first asking to borrow her phone and then asking for cash. When the victim refused, Crawford allegedly used a lighter to ignite the petrol nozzle, engulfing the vehicle in flames. A bystander, Scotty Gramling, who had already alerted police after witnessing an earlier altercation involving Crawford, helped the injured woman into his truck and called emergency services; she was taken to Tampa General Hospital and is expected to survive. Officers arrested Crawford a block away, and she has been charged with felony murder and arson; police noted she has a lengthy history of drug- and alcohol-related offences.