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- A man was tased after a confrontation with officers at a police station in Catskill, New York.
- The 29-year-old burst into flames and is now in grave condition in a burn unit, his lawyer said.
- Police said the man had doused himself in hand sanitizer prior to being tased.
A 29-year-old man in upstate New York burst into flames after being tasered and is now in grave condition, police said Friday.
Jason Jones walked into the police station in Catskill, New York, last weekend and, appearing intoxicated, got into a confrontation with officers, the Times Union reported. Chief David Darling told the outlet that officers used a taser on Jones in an attempt to subdue him.
"I think they were afraid he was going to hurt himself, and that's what started it," Darling said. "There are still details that we're trying to develop."
Prior to being tased, Jones had doused himself with hand sanitizer, according to police, but it's unclear when and whether the officers were aware of it. One source told the Times Union Jones had taken his clothes off and poured hand sanitizer on himself after walking into the station.
Many hand sanitizers contain high volumes of alcohol, which is flammable, in order to kill germs. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be a fire hazard without proper handling.
Jones' lawyer, Kevin Luibrand, told WRGB Jones is currently in a burn unit at a hospital in Syracuse.
"The goal right now is to preserve whatever evidence there is as to what happened and for he to do his best with doctors to recover as far as he can," Luibrand told WRGB.
Darling said there is an investigation being conducted by the Greene County district attorney's office. He also said that while his officers do not have body cameras, there are video cameras in the police station.