Indian Food Truck Worker Sets Suspected Thief On Fire

A Niagra Falls food truck worker was taken into custody after authorities claimed he set a woman on fire that he accused of stealing from his Indian food truck.

Indian food truck worker sets woman ablaze

According to witnesses 38-year-old Barinder Singh and an unnamed 48-year-old woman got into a screaming match at the Indian Fusion food truck he operates in Niagra Falls, New York.

Law enforcement officials responded to a distress call early Sunday afternoon and discovered the woman in an intersection near where the food truck was located, covered in severe burns on her head, arms, and body.

A witness reported that he thought someone had set a garbage can on fire before noticing that it was actually a person.

The victim was immediately transported to the Erie County Medical Center, where she was classified as in critical condition and treated for third-degree burns. She had to be intubated because the burns to her throat were so severe.

Indian food truck worker arrested

Police were able to see security footage from the incident when Singh allowed them access to his phone. Before allegedly lighting the woman on fire, he could be heard yelling. “I’ll (expletive) kill you,” and, “Don’t (expletive) steal from me.”

Singh was taken into the local police station for questioning on Monday and subsequently arrested for assault.

Despite the severity of the woman’s injuries, the Indian food truck worker was released on no bail. However, the judge did issue a protective order on behalf of the victim.

Drunk man deliberately crashes into food truck worker

In a separate incident in May, a Cordova food truck worker claimed that an irate customer, who had been ejected from a nearby bar, intentionally attempted to run him over with a pickup truck.

Mark Maughmer alleged that 42-year-old Alton Turner approached his food truck aggressively, upset because he believed the food truck owner had asked the bar to cut him off.

Maughmer, who apparently knew the man well enough to phone a friend to give him a ride home, asked Turner to leave.

When the friend was no-show, Turner went to the bar’s parking lot, hopped in his Ford F-250, accelerated, and slammed into Maughmer’s food truck on purpose.

Memphis police charged Turner, with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

Maughmer and another man were injured in the crash, and he has estimated the damage to his equipment would cost around $30,000 to repair.

Turner was held on a $75,000 bond and remains in custody at the county jail. Court documents indicated that Turner has previous convictions for domestic assault involving bodily harm and driving under the influence.

Food truck owner faces arson for burning down his business

A San Diego food truck owner has been convicted of arson, insurance fraud, and grand theft charges.

Prosecutors argued that he lit his food truck on fire to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance money and fraudulently rake in donations.

After the fire, Hartsfield received a $235,000 insurance payout, as well as a $120,000 in donations, after claiming his food truck was burned down in a hate crime.

At the time, Hartsfield informed the police that his food truck and office had been broken into multiple times. He said that his equipment was vandalized and that he found a noose left behind in his office.

However, surveillance footage from a business near his office placed him at the scene just before the fire started.

While the food truck was not visible in the security feed, a man identified by police as Hartsfield was seen walking towards the food truck.

Soon after, the same man is seen walking away, with flickering lights visible from the truck’s direction.

A car resembling Hartsfield’s was observed coming to the location and departing shortly after the fire ignited.

Food truck owner changes his story about fire

When Hartsfield first spoke to detectives he claimed to have parked the food truck by his office on the night of the fire and headed home. It wasn’t until the next day that he discovered the truck burned the following day.

He later revised his account, claiming that he returned to the office to make sure nobody had broken in, but left before the fire started.

Hartsfield made a third tweak to his account when he said a man with a gun threatened him at the scene, and caused him to run for his life.

The fourth time he changed his story, Hartsfield attributed the fire to a rice cooker left on in the truck, which sparked the blaze. He admitted to panicking and leaving the scene.

Prosecutors informed the jury that a fire investigation determined the blaze could not have been caused by the rice cooker.

They also noted that Hartsfield conducted several internet searches before the fire, including topics on car explosions and burning items.

In February, a San Diego jury found Avonte Hartsfield guilty of setting fire to his Rollin Roots food truck on Oct. 3, 2021. In March, Hartsfield was sentenced to five years and four months in state prison.