From Kim Minugh
Sacramento police arrested a 39-year-old parolee-at-large Wednesday night after he allegedly tried to light a north Sacramento convenience store clerk on fire during a robbery.
Richard Guy Hamilton was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail early this morning on suspicion of assault and robbery as well as violating the terms of his parole, according to booking records. He is ineligible for bail.
About 7:40 p.m., a suspect entered a store on the 3600 block of Marysville Boulevard and squirted lighter fluid on the clerk, threatening to light him on fire if he didn't hand over cash, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.
The suspect then grabbed a lighter from the front counter and tried to ignite the soaked clerk, but was unsuccessful - the lighter needed to be filled with lighter fluid, Leong said. He ran out of the store, without any cash in hand, after another customer scared him off, the sergeant said.
The suspect fled in a waiting vehicle, and witnesses were able to provide police with a partial license plate number and a description of the suspect. Just before 4 a.m., officers spotted a car and driver matching those descriptions in the area of Marysville and Los Robles boulevards, Leong said.
The driver of that car was detained, but ruled out as a suspect. He told officers he had borrowed the car from a parolee-at-large named Richard Hamilton, who was at a nearby home and also matched the description of the assault suspect, Leong said.
Officers located and arrested Hamilton. In a lineup, witnesses positively identified Hamilton as the assailant, Leong said.
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