Woman Allegedly Attempts to Set Gas Station Clerk on Fire: ‘I Just Want to Burn You Up’

Authorities charged a Kentucky woman with attempted murder after she allegedly doused a store clerk with gasoline and tried to set the cashier ablaze Thursday.

Baljindei Kaur owns the gas station on Winchester Avenue in Ashland, Kentucky, according to WSAZ.  Her niece from California, Navpreet Kaur, has been assisting Baljindei with the business following the death of her husband. 

Navpreet told WSAZ that she was working the register when a woman, who police later identified as Felicia Helton, 36, walked in to purchase two dollars worth of gasoline just before 9:00 a.m. The clerk says shortly after the transaction, the woman came back into the store with a gasoline-filled soda bottle and doused her with it, before pulling out a lighter and sparking a flame. 

“She said ‘I don’t like you, I just want to burn you up,'” Navpreet told WSAZ. 

Navpreet says two female customers jumped into action at that moment. One of the customers struck the suspect with an energy drink, and another pulled her hair, she told WSAZ.

“Most people don’t do that kind of stuff,” Baljindei told WSAZ. “If you see anything, they’re going to go away, but they were both very brave.”

Police say the patrons “were able to subdue the female and keep her under control” until authorities arrived, according to a Facebook release from the Ashland Police Department: 

“That’s like God,” Baljindei said. “God came here for her help. For me it’s God. If they weren’t here, my niece wouldn’t have been safe.”

Police arrested Helton once they arrived on the scene, and she was being held at the Boyd County Detention Center as of Thursday, according to the Ashland Police Department. She has been charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder. 

Neither Navpreet nor Baljindei can recall an encounter with the suspect before Thursday’s ordeal, according to WSAZ. Navpreet heads home to California on Monday but says she would like to thank the customers who protected her during the incident.