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The mayhem began at approximately 11:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Sweetbriar Drive and Lansdowne Drive, authorities detailed in a preliminary report.
A witness saw an unidentified Toyota sedan engulfed in flames after crashing into a tree. When the witness approached to help, the driver—who appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance—became aggressive and attempted to assault him. The witness retreated to his vehicle, police said.
Another Good Samaritan attempted to intervene, but the suspect physically assaulted him as well. The first witness then used pepper spray on the suspect, who responded by stealing the second bystander’s silver BMW 530i and fleeing, police said.
Moments later, the suspect returned in the stolen BMW and tried to run over both witnesses before crashing into a ravine. After getting out of the wrecked car, he ran back to the original scene, where firefighters were extinguishing the burning Toyota, according to police.
The suspect then began swinging tree branches at firefighters, prompting responding officers to deploy an electronic control weapon to subdue him. He was taken into custody and transported to Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center for treatment, authorities said.
The fire marshal determined the Toyota fire was caused by the initial crash. The investigation is ongoing under Southwest Detectives.
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