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Man sets Fort Worth hotel clerk on fire in ‘horrific’ robbery attempt, authorities say

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A man walked into a hotel in north Fort Worth on Sunday night and made robbery demands to the clerk behind the counter, threatening to burn him alive if he didn’t comply, according to the Fort Worth Fire Department.

He then followed through on his threat by setting the clerk on fire, fire department officials said in a news release. The employee sustained minor burns and the office in which he was working was severely damaged.

The incident occurred around 10:15 p.m. Sunday at the Budget Host Inn located at 3720 Tanacross Drive in Fort Worth, according to the fire department. A security video provided by the department shows a man in a black hat with purple cloth wrapped around his face like a mask standing at the counter in front of a clear dividing wall. He points a water bottle through the opening in the partition and squeezes it, squirting an unidentified clear liquid onto the clerk.

He sets the liquid on fire, the blaze spreading to the employee and throughout the business office.

“Sunday night, an absolutely horrific crime was committed in our city,” fire department spokesman Mike Drivdahl said in a press conference posted online. “We need your help to put the suspect in custody.”

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call Lt. James Horton with the Fort Worth Fire Department at 817-929-8735 or Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS, according to the release. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.

SUSPECT.PNG
The suspect in an incident Sunday night in which a Fort Worth hotel clerk was set on fire is captured in a security video. Fire officials are asking the public for help identifying the man. FORT WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT

Officials described the suspect as a Hispanic man with long hair. In the video, he’s wearing a button-down T-shirt and a black hat with white lines. A piece of purple cloth is wrapped around his head, covering his face.

A security camera photo from the parking lot shows him walking in jeans and sandals with the purple piece of cloth in his hands. In a video taken in the parking lot, he can be seen taking off the button-down shirt — revealing a teal T-shirt underneath — before getting into a parked white car.

He fled the scene in the four-door car believed to be a Honda Accord with a sunroof and rear spoiler, officials said.

Arson and bomb detectives with the fire department are investigating the incident, according to the release. Drivdahl said in an email Tuesday morning investigators were still working to determine what type of liquid the man sprayed onto the clerk behind the counter.

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