Amanda Bynes tried to leave in taxi after catching fire, witness says

By Richard Winton

July 24, 2013 6:54 AM PT

A Thousand Oaks resident who called 911 after Amanda Bynes accidentally set herself on fire didn’t realize it was the actress until after she tried to leave the scene.

Andrew Liverpool told reporters who flocked to his Ventura County neighborhood Tuesday that he saw “this girl lying down here with her left pant leg on fire, and there is this gas can right here and it is trailing fire.”

Liverpool said when he went to help, she had already managed to snuff out the flames on her pant leg.

As he was moving the gas can away and others arrived to help, he said, Bynes left the scene and he found her on the next block. He said she then tried to leave in a cab, but he told the driver not to take her.

“When I look at her,” he said, he realized “it is Amanda Bynes.” He said Bynes claimed that her dog had been burned.

Bynes, 27, was taken into custody by police for her own safety under California’s Welfare and Institutions Code, known as a 5150 hold, after the incident, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Capt. Don Aguilar.

Deputies responded to a home in the 200 block of Avenida de los Arboles about 8:46 p.m.

“There was a call about a small fire that she’d apparently set in front of the residence, kind of out on a sidewalk on the concrete,” said Sgt. Eric Buschow. “It wasn’t an attempt to burn down the house or anything.”

Buschow said the fire caused no property damage.

Aguilar said “deputies investigated the incident and determined that she met the criteria of 5150. ... She was detained and taken for a mental health evaluation.” A source familiar with Bynes’ detention said she could be held for 14 more days if she is deemed a danger to herself or others.

In May, New York prosecutors charged Bynes with attempted evidence-tampering, reckless endangerment and marijuana possession after police alleged she tossed a bong out of her apartment.

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