Utah Man Pours Gasoline On Woman, Sets Her On Fire With Flare: Police

A 49-year-old man in Davis County, Utah, faces several charges after allegedly starting a woman on fire, police said.

Deputies with the Davis County Sheriff's Office responded to a home in Clinton in late September for reports of a woman who had been burned by a road flare, ABC 4 Utah reported, citing arresting records.

The unnamed woman told authorities that a man, later identified as Marc Davis, allegedly poured gasoline on her and lit it on fire with a flare, a report by Fox 13 News said.

The woman's current condition is unclear, but she was treated by medical personnel at the time.

A witness told officers she allegedly saw a man matching Davis' description "with a red cooler in his hand" chasing a woman in the road with a lit road flare, according to a police report. The witness said she'd been driving by but stayed in the area after seeing the woman being chased.

A second witness who was standing next to the victim during the incident claimed a man matching the description of Davis threw gasoline on the victim and tried to light her on fire. Some of the gasoline also got on the witness, she said.

Police then searched the backyard of a nearby home on a tip provided by a witness and found Davis hiding inside a 10-foot-deep hole under a blanket with a red cooler.

Davis crawled out of the hole and was placed in handcuffs after officers issued multiple commands for him to get out. Davis County deputies said Davis "pretended to be mute and would not speak," according to arresting documents.

Davis admitted to being around the victim, but he denied throwing anything on her and chasing her with a flare, police said.

The cooler found with Davis contained a large amount of solid crystal-like substances, as well as three bags of a "green-leafy substance, a zip lock baggie of white powder, spoons, needles, tutor straws, pipes, bongs, a small glass container, baggies, a scale and a folding knife," police said.

Davis allegedly denied being in possession of the cooler. He also denied ownership of the cooler, according to police.

Based on evidence collected, police decided to charge Davis with attempted murder, possession with intent to distribute, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, 11 counts of possession of a controlled substance, eight counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and obstruction of justice.