Footage captures fire ball near gas pump where suspect, 3 Osceola deputies were injured

2022-03-12 02:56:08 By : Mr. JAMESON LAI

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Video at an Orange County Wawa on John Young and Central Florida Parkway shows a man Osceola County deputies were looking for.

The suspect rode into the gas station on a dirt bike. While at the pump, a man, likely a deputy, rushes in on foot and takes the motorcyclist down.

Not long after a fireball near the pump can be seen and two people on fire.

WESH 2 News spoke with a woman who witnessed the scene just after the flames were extinguished Sunday afternoon. "It was pretty terrifying to pull in here and see that,” Kris Bruno said. She grabbed her cell phone to capture the aftermath, narrating as she recorded. "More fire extinguishers. The person's over here that they're bringing to the ambulance,” Bruno said in the video. The video appears to be edited, so it's not clear how long the flames continued.

Deputies say 26-year-old John Beretta was so badly burned that he had to be rushed to a hospital.

A deputy was also hospitalized, while two other deputies were treated and released. "I saw a lot of fire extinguishers, and a lot of officers and a lot of firefighters, pretty much in that corner over there, rushing to put this man out from fire,” Bruno said. "Still under investigation of why the flames took place, we're looking into it, I don't have a lot of information or details on that,” Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said.

Lopez says his deputies had complaints of motorcyclists riding recklessly and some even pointing guns. When deputies tried to pull the group over, Lopez said: "The individuals, multiple, not just this individual here, failed to stop, they were popping wheelies, causing a disruption, we basically stopped following them." Deputies tracked Beretta to the gas station by helicopter.

The video shows the suspect first stopping at a pump closer to the store before moving to next one forward.

The state fire marshal is investigating to see what started the fire and how. The sheriff's office is also investigating. The sheriff's office says it is hoping for a speedy recovery for all.

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