Bay Area clerk set on fire after confronting serial shoplifter

A California Bay Area store clerk is recovering from grievous wounds after he was lit on fire with stolen lighter fluid by a serial shoplifter.

The clerk, identified as Suraj, was lit on fire after he confronted serial shoplifter Kendall Burton on Sept. 22 at an Appian Food and Liquor store in El Sobrante, according to a Sunday report.

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Video of the incident was posted to YouTube and shows Suraj being dowsed and set aflame before others in the store come to his aid.

The clerk suffered second- and third-degree burns on his face, neck, chest, and shoulder, and he remains in a local hospital, the report noted.

“It’s terrible,” Suraj said. “You know, I’m still in a trauma right now. The pain is like 7,8, you know, out of 10, and when we clean the wound, it’s like over 10.”

Suraj has worked as a clerk at Appian Food and Liquor for about five years, and he confronted Burton after a co-worker informed him that Burton had stolen from the store multiple times, each time taking lighter fluid, according to the report.

“He just, you know, splashed the lighter fluid on my face, and I was so scared in that moment, and I don’t know what to do,” the clerk said. “I come to stop him, and I don’t remember. He just lit the fire on me.”

Authorities arrested Burton, who has been identified as a homeless man, and he is facing assault with a deadly weapon, battery, arson, and robbery, the report noted.

Burton is being held without bail.

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“I would like to say like nobody has to go through this kind of situation,” Suraj said. “Like small store should have more like security or something.”

He will need several surgeries and has a long road to recovery, he said.