Police have released surveillance photos of three people described as persons of interest in a case involving a homeless man who was set on fire while sleeping at a beach in Ventura.
“These individuals are not suspects. They are only identified as being in the area near the time and place that the incident occurred,” the Ventura Police Department said in Friday a news release.
John Frazier, a 58-year-old homeless man, awoke in his sleeping bag to find three men dousing him with lighter fluid and igniting a fire shortly before 11 p.m. Jan. 17, according to the department.
A witness who called 911 told officials he saw flames 5-to-6-feet high when he found Frazier, whose entire upper torso was on fire. The good Samaritan used sand to extinguish the blaze before calling authorities, police said.
Officers and firefighters arrived at the scene, near the southern end of Seaward Avenue (map), to find Frazier and some of his personal items still smoldering.
Suffering from second- and third-degree burns, he was transported to Community Memorial Hospital before being moved to a burn unit, officials said. He was expected to survive.
The three assailants were described as white men in their late teens or early 20s, with shaved heads and dark clothing.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Ventura Police Department at 805-339-4309.