UPDATE: Denny's arson attack suspect arrested

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A witness to an arson attempt inside a movie theater Sunday night in Clackamas County said he believes the suspect could be the same person involved in a Wednesday night incident that left a 69-year-old man critically injured at a nearby Denny's.

Ron Steinhauser said "The Fate of the Furious" at the Clackamas Town Center was about 10 minutes from ending Sunday night when he saw something spark in his row about 10 feet to his right. Steinhauser then saw a single match light an entire book of matches, illuminating what appeared to be a clear plastic water bottle that a person used to dump liquid on another man, he said during an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday.

"I didn't smell the gasoline until the (victim) ran by me," Steinhauser said. "With the amount of gas on the floor he must have squeezed the bottle hard."

Firefighters on Wednesday night told Clackamas County detectives they also smelled gasoline after responding about 9 p.m. to the Denny's at 12101 S.E. 82nd Ave. near the Clackamas Town Center. They found the man critically injured from burns and smelled fuel inside the restaurant and on the victim, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Denny's surveillance shows the man dumping a liquid on the victim and tossing a lighted item in his direction, the Sheriff's Office said. That caused a large flash before the suspect ran out of the restaurant heading south on 82nd.

The victim was rushed to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center and remains in critical condition, according to the news release Thursday morning. A hospital spokeswoman has not responded to a request for a condition update of the unidentified victim.

Homicide and violent crime detectives are investigating with help from Clackamas County Fire District No. 1 and Oregon State Police arson investigators. Evidence has been sent to a forensic laboratory.

Wednesday night's arson attempt appears to be random and is not being investigated as a hate crime, said Sheriff's Office spokesman Brian Jensen. Detectives are checking with other law enforcement agencies for similar incidents.

The suspect is about 6 feet tall with a medium to muscular build, according to the news release. He wore a black, flat-brim hat, black hooded jacket, grey sweat pants with a black stripe and black shoes.

When asked about the theater incident, Jensen said investigators did not receive much information from the victim and witnesses.

"The victim (Sunday) was not cooperative with our deputies and apparently found the situation humorous," Jensen said. "The victim refused to press any charges and only gave a vague description of a suspect."

After seeing a surveillance picture of Wednesday night's suspect, Steinhauser said he could not positively match the suspect based of the brief glimpse of the face he saw Sunday night. However, the physical description of the man's height and weight is the same, he said.

The arm of Sunday night's victim seemed to very briefly catch on fire before it was put out, Steinhauser recalled.

"The guy got really lucky," Steinhauser said. "They didn't make a sound, and they both exited at the same time."

Steinhauser said he spoke with deputies about what he witnessed and said he never saw the victim again.

Suspect in Denny's attack 3 Gallery: Suspect in Denny's attack

-- Tony Hernandez

thernandez@oregonian.com

503-294-5928

@tonyhreports

Everton Bailey Jr. of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report