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Florida Woman Claims to Be God, Sets Her Car on Fire at Gas Station

A West Palm Beach woman pulled into a BP gas station and doused gasoline on her car windshield and trunk. She then took out a lighter and set the car on fire, claiming she was God. The woman's dogs were reportedly in the car as it went up in flames...
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A West Palm Beach woman pulled into a BP gas station and doused gasoline on her car windshield and trunk. She then took out a lighter and set the car on fire, claiming she was God.

The woman's dogs were reportedly in the car as it went up in flames. The gas station attendant, meanwhile, quickly shut off the pump's gas to avoid an explosion.

According to the Daytona Beach Police Department, the woman, 29-year-old Alexandra Barnes, tried to set the car on fire with a lighter she snagged from the BP convenience store at 971 W. International Speedway. But the store clerk took the lighter away from her before she could use it.

Undeterred, she used a lighter she found in her car to do the trick. As the car went up in flames, she told someone there that her "babies were in the car," referring to her two dogs trapped inside the burning car.

The bystander heroically ran to the burning car and grabbed Barnes' dogs.

According to the police report, Barnes took her dogs from the person and wandered onto the International Speedway Boulevard. She sat down in the middle of the road, continuously saying that she was God.

Barnes reportedly told police who arrived on the scene that she was being hunted down "just like her father." She also told police that a chip had been placed inside her and that those who were hunting her down were going to kill the world by pressing a button.

The car fire was put out, and Barnes was eventually taken to Halifax Medical Center under the Baker Act, Florida's mental health act that detains a person for at least 72 hours who authorities believe will do harm to themselves or others.

The two dogs appeared to be in good health and were taken to a kennel with food and water, according to the report.

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