Police upgraded the case after a woman suffered second-degree burns when gasoline was allegedly ignited beside her SUV.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — What began in the Police Department’s public record as an arson investigation became an attempted felony murder case within hours, after authorities said Eleanor Crawford deliberately ignited gasoline beside a woman fueling an SUV and left the stranger with serious second-degree burns.
The updated charge is one of the clearest developments in a case that otherwise still contains a major unknown. St. Petersburg police said Crawford, 41, and the 41-year-old victim did not know one another before the Sept. 10 incident. Investigators have not announced a confirmed motive. That leaves the prosecution centered, at least in the public accounts released so far, on what police say Crawford did at the pump rather than on an established explanation for why she allegedly did it.
Police placed the incident at about 8 p.m. at the Mobil station at 101 40th Avenue North. The victim was pumping gasoline into a Volvo SUV when Crawford approached. The department said Crawford deliberately ignited gasoline with a lighter, after which the vehicle became engulfed in flames. The injured woman was taken to Tampa General Hospital. Officials said she suffered second-degree burns and was seriously injured.
The Police Department’s Sept. 11 news release illustrates how quickly the criminal allegations changed. An initial portion of the release described an arson and said Crawford faced two arson charges. An update posted later that morning listed attempted felony murder and arson. Subsequent local reporting also described those charges. The updated allegations do not amount to a conviction, and the records reviewed for this report do not show that a court has made a final determination of guilt.
Additional details about the encounter came from FOX 13 Tampa Bay, which reported that police said Crawford first asked the victim to use her phone. The woman agreed. Crawford then asked her for money, according to the station’s account, and the woman refused. Police said Crawford then set gasoline at the nozzle on fire with a lighter. That sequence provides investigators with a description of the moments immediately before the fire, but authorities have not said a refusal of money has been legally established as the motive for the alleged attack.
The distinction matters because police have repeatedly said the motive remains unclear. A request for money followed by violence may form part of the chronology, but motive addresses the reason behind a criminal act and is not necessarily proven simply because one event preceded another. Investigators have not publicly described a prior relationship, planning, threats before that evening or another known connection between Crawford and the victim.
Officers arrested Crawford a couple of blocks away shortly after the fire. FOX 13 reported that she was taken into custody within about 20 minutes. A witness, Scotty Gramling, told the station that he had been nearby and had called a police non-emergency line before the fire after seeing Crawford in an apparent altercation across the street. He said police were already responding when the gas-station incident occurred. Authorities have not publicly tied that earlier event to a proven motive in the arson case.
Gramling also became an eyewitness to the immediate aftermath. He told FOX 13 he went to the injured woman, helped her into his truck and called 911. Firefighters responded to the burning vehicle while the victim was taken for medical care. Police said she had second-degree burns, and FOX 13 reported injuries to her arms and back. Assistant Police Chief Mike Kovacsev later said she had been stabilized and was expected to survive.
Later reports citing Pinellas County jail and court information said Crawford’s bond was set at $350,000. The material reviewed for this story did not show a later final judgment, sentencing or disposition of the attempted felony murder and arson allegations. It also did not establish that a trial date had been set. Any change in custody status or charging documents would depend on subsequent court records rather than the original police announcement.
Crawford had another recent arrest before the gas-station case, according to reports based on Pinellas County records. She was arrested in July on allegations of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence. Reporting on that earlier case said she was later released under supervision. Those allegations are separate proceedings, however, and they do not establish that she committed the Sept. 10 offenses or explain her actions at the station.
Kovacsev raised possible substance use or diminished capacity when speaking to reporters, but he stopped short of saying investigators had confirmed either. He said he did not know whether alcohol or drugs were involved. That uncertainty is significant in a criminal case because an official’s speculation about possible impairment is not equivalent to evidence showing what substances, if any, were present or what Crawford’s mental condition was at the time.
The available public record therefore contains strong police allegations about conduct but limited information about intent beyond the charges themselves. Investigators say Crawford deliberately ignited gasoline, the victim was badly burned, and Crawford was arrested nearby. They have not released a confirmed motive, toxicology finding or psychological evaluation that resolves why the alleged act occurred. Nor have the reviewed materials established that the women had any prior contact.
For the victim, authorities offered one encouraging medical development: she was stabilized and expected to survive. No later authoritative update reviewed for this article detailed her recovery, hospital discharge or continuing treatment. For Crawford, the case remains a criminal matter in which the government bears the burden of proving its allegations. The attempted felony murder and arson charges announced by police should be understood as accusations unless and until they are resolved in court.
Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.