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Tuesday, September 03, 2002

By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

What began with heated words ended in flames.

A verbal altercation between a Morningside man and five young men from his neighborhood escalated at a Lawrenceville gas station just before midnight on Sunday.

	Thomas F. Risko (KDKA-TV)

Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Maurita Bryant said that's when Thomas F. Risko, 46, doused Eric Hilliard, 18, of Morningside with gasoline as he sat in the passenger seat of a black 1995 Ford Probe that was parked at a gas pump.

Then, Bryant said, Risko "takes a lighter and he runs it up the passenger's arm. Sparks ignite and [Hilliard is] immediately engulfed in flames."

Bryant said Risko then casually walked away from the Probe, which was parked at the A-Plus Sunoco station at 51st and Butler streets, then fled up Stanton Avenue.

Now, he's charged with five counts of attempted homicide, two counts of arson and one count of risking a catastrophe. He was arraigned yesterday afternoon and is being held on a $250,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 11.

Hilliard, who suffered third-degree burns on 60 percent of his body, is in serious condition in West Penn Hospital.

The incident began when Risko called the five young men from Morningside "white trash" after some of them made fun of him for running out of gas, the victim's brother said.

Nabil Gari, 31, of Friendship, the attendant at the gas station, said last night he believes the incident may have been provoked by the young men taunting a female customer.

"I thought [Risko] knew them, then all of a sudden I see fire," said Gari. He called 911 and ran outside to see two of the men rolling on the ground, attempting to put out the flames. "It's a shame. It's nothing I want to see again."

An off-duty nurse who witnessed the incident grabbed a fire extinguisher from the gas station and helped put out the flames that engulfed Hilliard. An off-duty firefighter, who also witnessed the incident, used his own fire extinguisher to help douse the fire.

The fire spread to the car's back seat, where two other passengers suffered second-degree burns.

The driver and a passenger seated immediately behind him escaped unharmed. Bryant would not release the other men's names, saying they were under the age of 21.

Those two young men fled the scene, Bryant said, because they believed the gasoline would cause an explosion at the station.

Less than an hour and a half after the incident, Pittsburgh police arrested Risko in Lawrenceville.

William Hohos, a K-9 officer based in the Hill District police station, was searching for the suspect and spotted Risko walking along railroad tracks near Harrison Street and McCandless Avenue, Bryant said. That intersection is less than three blocks away from the Sunoco at Butler and 51st streets.

Hilliard will undergo skin graft surgery today, according to his brother, Brian, also of Morningside. Brian Hilliard was walking past the gas station yesterday on his way to visit his brother in the hospital and gave an interview to news reporters.

"His face is OK," Brian said about his brother. "It could have been a lot worse. It's not good. I'm just glad he's alive."

He said he found it hard to believe that his brother would have taunted Risko, adding that Eric Hilliard knows Risko's children because they live in his neighborhood.