Two Tijuana Policemen Set on Fire : Attack: They tried to extort almost $2,000 from him, Garden Grove man says, so he threw gasoline into their car, ignited it, then fled to the U.S. in a hail of bullets. One officer is in critical condition.

An Orange County man is in custody after he allegedly doused two Tijuana policemen with gasoline and set them and their patrol car on fire.

After John M. Racich of Garden Grove was arrested Wednesday morning, he told federal authorities that he set the officers on fire because they had extorted $1,900 from him and then tried to get more money.

A federal source said Racich told investigators that he had gone to Tijuana in his Ford Ranger pickup truck about 11 p.m. Tuesday, a 10-millimeter automatic pistol hidden under the passenger seat.

Racich’s visit to Tijuana ended about eight hours later, when he allegedly torched the Tijuana police car and the two policemen as they waited in the car for him. The incident occurred on the Mexican side of the border, just beyond the port of entry.

An affidavit filed by the U.S. attorney’s office said Racich admitted setting the fire and then jumping in his truck and racing toward the border.

Other Tijuana officers fired at least 10 rounds at the fleeing truck, a federal source said. At least two of the shots hit the truck and others hit booths normally manned by U.S. Customs inspectors at the primary and secondary inspection stations. No injuries were reported.

Tijuana police officer Javier Ojeda, 34, reportedly suffered second-degree burns over his face and torso and was in critical condition at a Tijuana hospital. Officer Julian Gonzalez, 25, also suffered facial burns that were less severe.

According to a federal source, the trouble began when Tijuana police found Racich in the company of a prostitute. Racich told investigators that the police extorted $20 from him in exchange for not arresting him. Then, according to the source, Racich and the prostitute went to a hotel room.

Racich told investigators that the prostitute saw the handgun and summoned Tijuana police when he was not looking, the source said. As he was leaving the hotel, Racich said, he was apprehended by four Tijuana policemen, the source said.

Racich said that the Tijuana officers found the gun on him, confiscated it and extorted $80 more from him.

Then the Tijuana police demanded additional money and threatened to put him in jail, the U.S. source said. Racich did not have any more cash but offered to sign over to the police $1,800 that he was carrying in traveler’s checks.

The affidavit filed Thursday by federal prosecutors in U.S. District Court said that Racich told investigators that Mexican authorities had taken “money and traveler’s checks from him.”

The source familiar with the incident said that after giving the Tijuana police the traveler’s checks, Racich asked for his gun back.

“Racich said that the Mexican authorities said that if he gave the officers additional money his firearm would be returned to him and he would be let go,” said the federal affidavit.

According to the federal source, Racich offered to drive across the border to an automatic teller machine and get an additional $300 for the Mexican officers. The source said the Mexican police escorted Racich’s truck to the front of the line of cars waiting to cross to the United States.

The federal affidavit said the Mexicans had given Racich 15 minutes to get to a bank, withdraw $300 and return to Tijuana. The affidavit also said that “Mexican authorities escorted Racich to the U.S. border.”

On the way back to Tijuana from the bank machine, U.S. prosecutors said that Racich filled two beverage bottles with gasoline. When he approached the Mexican police sitting inside the police car, Racich allegedly doused them with gasoline and threw a lighter inside the car, but not before he had gotten his pistol back.

He then drove to the United States, dodging the bullets fired by other Mexican officers. U.S. officials took him into custody immediately. Racich was charged with illegal export of explosive devices and a firearm to Mexico and illegally bringing a firearm into the United States.