Prisoner Blows Up Police Auto.
Exploding with a match the fumes of gasoline rising from an open tank, a prisoner on the way to jail blew up an automobile patrol in the downtown section of Los Angeles, Cal., recently. The vehicle was destroyed, and one prisoner was fatally burned and two others, with Patrolman Louis Canto, seriously injured.
Canto, with his clothing aflame, started in pursuit of the man who started the fire, and another prisoner, who, unhurt, were speeding down the street, but was stopped by onlookers, who stripped the flaming clothing from his body while the fugitives escaped.
The patrol was being driven back to central station, after a round-up of prisoners, and gasoline fumes were released when the fuel tank was opened for refilling.