The two women had no prior relationship, while investigators have yet to determine what prompted the September attack, police say.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A woman who police say approached a stranger pumping fuel at a St. Petersburg gas station and deliberately ignited gasoline is facing attempted felony murder and arson charges after the victim suffered serious second-degree burns. Authorities said the Sept. 10 encounter involved two women who did not know one another, leaving investigators with a central question that remained unanswered after the arrest: why the attack happened.

The St. Petersburg Police Department said the violence unfolded at about 8 p.m. at the Mobil station at 101 40th Avenue North. The 41-year-old victim was putting gasoline into a Volvo SUV when Eleanor Crawford, also 41, approached her. Police said Crawford used a lighter to deliberately ignite the gasoline. Flames spread to the vehicle, which became engulfed, and the injured woman was taken to Tampa General Hospital. Police initially described the case as an arson and later updated Crawford’s charges to attempted felony murder and arson.

The sequence leading to the fire became clearer through later reporting by FOX 13 Tampa Bay. Police told the station that Crawford first asked the woman if she could use her phone. The victim allowed her to do so, according to that account. Crawford then asked for money, and the woman refused. Police said Crawford subsequently set gasoline at the nozzle on fire with a lighter. Authorities have not said that the two women had met before that evening or that there was any longer-running dispute between them.

That lack of a known connection has shaped the investigation. St. Petersburg police said Crawford and the victim did not know one another and reported no established motive in their initial public statement. The distinction is important because the circumstances described by investigators do not point to a domestic dispute, workplace conflict or other previously known relationship. Police have instead treated the episode as an encounter between strangers, while leaving the reason for the alleged act unresolved rather than assigning a motive that has not been established.

A nearby witness, Scotty Gramling, told FOX 13 that he was parked in the area when the flames erupted. He said he went to the injured woman, helped her into his truck and called 911. The witness described seeing a sudden burst of fire around the vehicle. His account also added a detail from the minutes before the gas-station incident: Gramling said he had already called a police non-emergency line after seeing Crawford involved in what appeared to be another altercation across the street. Police were reportedly responding to that earlier disturbance when the fire occurred.

Emergency crews then faced both a medical emergency and a burning vehicle. Police said the victim suffered second-degree burns, with FOX 13 reporting that the injuries affected her arms and back. She was transported to Tampa General Hospital for treatment. Assistant Police Chief Mike Kovacsev later told the television station that the woman had been stabilized and was expected to survive. His comments described the injuries as unusually severe, but authorities did not release a detailed medical prognosis or a timetable for the victim’s recovery.

Officers did not have to search far for Crawford. The Police Department said she was arrested a couple of blocks from the station shortly after the fire. FOX 13 reported that officers found her within about 20 minutes. The quick arrest gave investigators a named suspect early in the case, but it did not answer the motive question. Police announced the next morning that the case had moved beyond the original arson allegations and that Crawford now faced attempted felony murder and arson.

Reports based on Pinellas County records later said Crawford’s combined bond was set at $350,000. Those reports also described a prior July arrest in Gulfport on allegations of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence. That earlier case is separate from the gas-station prosecution and does not establish guilt in the new case. Authorities have not said that Crawford’s prior arrests explain what happened on Sept. 10, and no conviction history by itself can establish a motive for the alleged attack.

Kovacsev publicly acknowledged that investigators were looking at possible explanations but cautioned that they did not know whether alcohol, drugs or other factors were involved. He referred to Crawford’s history while discussing the possibility of diminished capacity, but his remarks were speculative rather than a finding about her condition that night. Police did not announce toxicology results, a mental-health evaluation or other evidence establishing that she was impaired when the gasoline was ignited.

The charging language also represents an allegation rather than a finding of guilt. Attempted felony murder and arson are serious accusations, but the public accounts reviewed do not show that the allegations have been adjudicated. The available reporting also did not establish whether Crawford had entered a plea, whether prosecutors had filed a later charging document changing the counts, or whether a trial date had been scheduled. Those procedural questions remain separate from the police narrative describing what officers believe occurred at the Mobil station.

The victim’s survival became one of the most significant developments after the initial emergency response. Police first described her as seriously injured, while later statements indicated that she had been stabilized. The public record reviewed for this report did not provide a subsequent medical update detailing whether she had been released from the hospital or what continuing treatment she required. Authorities likewise did not release additional information that would explain why she was selected, if police believe she was selected at all, rather than simply being encountered at the station.

More than a month after the incident, the most firmly established public facts remain limited: a woman was seriously burned while fueling her SUV, police accuse Crawford of deliberately igniting gasoline, officers arrested Crawford nearby, and authorities said the women were strangers. The Police Department’s most recent public account reviewed for this story still listed the motive as unclear. Until investigators or court records provide additional evidence, the reason for the alleged attack remains one of the case’s central unresolved issues.

Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.