Police Probe How Man Was Set Afire

SAN FERNANDO — A 45-year-old man died Sunday night hours after suffering third-degree burns on nearly half of his body after being found in a convenience store parking lot with his shirt on fire, authorities said.

Police were trying to determine whether Luciano Lugo Olmeda, who was described by authorities as possibly homeless and very intoxicated at the time he was burned early Sunday, was attacked or accidentally set himself on fire.

“Both [theories] are equally viable,” said Lt. Rico Castro of the San Fernando Police Department. “There’s things that point to one, there’s things that point to the other.”

Castro said witnesses told police that Olmeda came running out from behind a 7-Eleven store at Glenoaks Boulevard and Maclay Avenue at 3:45 a.m. Sunday with his shirt on fire.

At the same time, a gray car with four youths inside drove away, Castro said.

“It could just be that four kids happened to be leaving the scene at the time this guy came from behind the 7-Eleven,” he said. “He had a lighter in his pocket.”

Castro said Olmeda told officers that he lived in the 2100 block of Thomas Street in Los Angeles, but police were unable to find anyone there who knew him. Police are seeking additional witnesses and people who may know Olmeda or his family, Castro said.

Olmeda was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and then transferred to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. He was placed on a respirator after being hospitalized with third-degree burns, primarily on his upper chest and arms, said Adelaida De La Cerda, a spokeswoman for the medical center. Olmeda died at the hospital at 7:45 p.m.