A Randolph police officer is lucky he is still alive after being doused with gasoline after attempting to rescue occupants from a burning home shortly before midnight Saturday.
Officer Mark L'Italien entered the fully involved duplex on Turning Mill Lane to search for victims when he encountered Raphael Theophile, who was holding a gas can, according to WCVB-TV.
"(I) tried to step in, just to see if I could go in, see if I could see anything. That's immediately when I saw a hand with some sort of white bucket or something," L'Italien told the news station.
As he turned the corner, he was hit.
"You could immediately smell that it was gas. I knew exactly what it was when it hit me. Was kind of happy it didn't hit me in the face and get gas in my eyes," he said.
The four-year veteran was able to escape the three-alarm blaze without catching fire.
Officers were able to subdue Theophile, who was holding the gasoline container and had kitchen knives sticking out of his pockets.
He faces charges including arson and assault and battery on an officer and other charges could be added.
