By Tien-Shun Lee
A 44-year-old Korean man threw gasoline on his girlfriend next to a Korean church in Auburndale Friday at around 8:13 a.m., then lit her on fire with a lighter before setting himself on fire after pouring gasoline on his body and hugging her, police said.
Mi Ran Bae, 33, of Auburndale was in critical condition in the burn unit of Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx Monday, with burns on about half of her body, said Michael Heller, a spokesman for the hospital. Her boyfriend, Jo Sung Chul, 44, was in extremely critical condition at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, according to a spokeswoman for that hospital.
Police said Bae had just dropped her 10-year-old son, Solomon, off at a daycare camp at the Manna Presbyterian Church of New York, located at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 170th Street, when she encountered Chul, who was waiting for her outside the church.
After a heated argument, Chul doused Bae with gasoline, ignited her, then poured gasoline on himself and burst into flames as he fell to the ground with Bae, said police.
A motorist who was passing by saw the couple on fire and stopped to help extinguish the flames by throwing a tarp over them, said Fire Department Marshal Robert Rostkowski.
After Bae managed to break free from Chul, she walked across the street and into a 7-11 at 171-02 Northern Blvd., where a store clerk extinguished her flaming head and body with water.
“It was during rush hour when she came in,” said Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-11. “She was saying ‘get water, get water,’ so one of the employees got a big bucket of water and told the other employee to call 911.”
The 7-11 employees, Nima Sherpa, 27, and Delwar Khan, 19, said they were shaken up by the incident and felt like they were walking around in a bit of a fog afterwards.
“Fortunately, they reacted just as they should have and reacted quickly,” said Chabris. “They said they didn’t feel like they were heroes, but felt they had done the right thing.”
The couple’s landlord, who lived above the couple on the second floor of a two-story house on 189th Street in Auburndale, said police had come to their house in the past during disputes.
“They argued every week, every second day,” said Voula Frankis, the landlord. “They called the police many times. Both of them complained. The guy, he complained that she has a lot of boyfriends. The wife, she complained that he drinks a lot.”
Frankis said Chul worked in construction while Bae was the manager of a nail salon. They lived with Solomon and a pet Chihuahua called Cookie.
Solomon, who may be staying with one of his school teachers while his parents are in the hospital, was home Monday picking up some possessions, said Frankis.
The landlord said she was shocked when she heard about the incident because Chul seemed like a quiet, nice man.
“They didn’t look like that kind of people. They looked very nice,” said Frankis. “They have problems, but both of them are so nice.”
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
