(12/3/99)
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) -- A woman who was videotaped buying 85 cents worth of gasoline was charged today with dumping it on a 9-year-old boy and setting him on fire as he walked to school.
The boy, Vincent Williams, was expected to be released today from Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
Vincent was attacked Thursday morning outside Weatherill Elementary School, where he is in fourth grade.
Authorities said he avoided serious injury when he remembered his ``stop, drop and roll'' training, ripping off his jacket and rolling on the ground to quell the flames. He then walked to the principal's office, where officials calmed him down and called for help.
His coat, hat and book bag were ``burned to ashes,'' said principal Marion Lane.
Kelly Chapman, 33, of Chester faces reckless endangerment and various assault charges. Police said she was arrested on the basis of eyewitness reports and a surveillance videotape from a nearby gas station that showed her buying fuel and leaving with it in a container.
Police noted that Chapman had an ongoing relationship with the boy that had resulted twice in her arrest.
Chapman commented, ``He just doesn't respect my needs as a woman.''
Police said Vincent was burned on the back of his head and around his ears. They said it helped that he was dressed in layers, which protected much of his body from the flames.
Cynthia Williams, Vincent's mother, claims to be an alien abductee.