San Diego man claims he was lit on fire in hate crime after allegedly beating pregnant woman
06/23/2023 3:22 pm PDT
SAN DIEGO (TCD) -- A man was reportedly set on fire and then claimed he was the victim of a hate crime after he allegedly beat and injured a pregnant woman.
According to a news release, on June 12 at 10:41 p.m., San Diego Police Department officers responded to a call about a man attacking a woman on the 900 block of 6th Avenue in the city’s Gaslamp district and found the victim bleeding with "multiple injuries." Paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital, where she was treated for her wounds.
Police searched the area for the suspect but did not find him.
About an hour later, San Diego Police received a call from a man who said he had been set on fire. Police found the man on the 1200 block of Market Street and took him to a hospital. According to the statement, investigators concluded the man suffering from the burns was the suspect in the pregnant woman’s beating, so they opened another investigation.
Detectives found surveillance footage from the area that reportedly showed the "initial physical assault by the man on the pregnant woman and the subsequent use of fire as a weapon by the pregnant woman on the man."
San Diego Police said in their statement that the male victim described the attack on him as a hate crime, and they are investigating the claims.
Police said, "This is a complex investigation and detectives are examining all aspects and allegations."
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