Local News - Witness says man tried to set ex-wife on fire over $5 of gas

Witness says man tried to set ex-wife on fire over $5 of gas

Posted at: 11/04/2009 10:37 AM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 11/04/2009 6:27 PM
By: Berkeley Brean

The story your about to see is shocking. It involves an ax, gasoline and a match! Police say a man attacked his estranged wife and then tried to set her SUV on fire with her inside of it. And get this, a witness says it was all over a 4-wheeler and $5 worth of gas.
Police say John and Debora Thoms had been fighting for a long time. John Thoms is in jail tonight charged with attempted murder for the attack on Debora Thoms. A witness said their grandchild was also in the SUV.
It happened at the couple's home on Clyde Hunts Corners Road in the Wayne County Town of Galen.
"What's this dent here?" reporter Berkeley Brean asked.
"This is where he hit it. He actually hit it with the wooden part of the ax handle," Brandon Fratus said. Fratus, a family friend, showed us where the attack happen. Debora Thoms locked herself inside her SUV after she was beaten by estranged husband John Thoms. That's when Fratus say Thoms tried to set the car and her on fire.
Brean: "Did he put gas all over the truck?"
Fratus: "Yeah, he dumped it right down on top."
The story we're told is that John Thoms came back to this home to pick up his 4-wheeler and when Debora Thoms showed up, that's when the fight really started.
Fratus says Debora Thoms had just filled it up with $5 worth of gas.
"She told him if he gave her $5 he could take it and he flipped out I guess and started beating her and she got up and ran to the car," Fratus said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office says Thoms grabbed a 5 gallon tank full of gas and poured it on the SUV and the home. Then he struck a match, threw it at the car but the flame went out.
"Fortunately last night it was rather windy out and maybe that had a chance of helping the match not holding," Lt. Robert Hetzke said.
Thoms took off before he could try again. But when he returned to the home, the sheriff's office arrested him. Witnesses say the couple has been fighting for months.
Fratus: "Yeah, for a few months."
Brean: "Did you ever think it would reach the level it did yesterday?"
Fratus: "No never. I didn't think it would get that bad, that serious"
Investigators picked up the gas tank, the sledge hammer and the match that they say Thoms tried to light. We saw where the attack happened, but the smell of the gasoline is gone. Thoms is in jail tonight on $25,000.
As far as we know, the child that was in the SUV at the time is fine. We were told that while the attack was happening, the child's father was able to pull her out of the SUV. We're not sure if the child was in the SUV when the match was struck, but we know Thoms faces child endangerment charges as well.
Sheriff's investigators tell us that John Thoms works for the Wayne County Department of Social Services. Debora Thoms is a nurse at the county's nursing home.