BOSTON — The owners of a gas station in Roslindale say their business could’ve been burned to the ground by a driver who careened across their property.
It happened Tuesday night around 7:15 p.m. at the Alfa Auto Fuel on Washington Street.
Surveillance video shows an Acura RDX pulling into the gas station and backing into a pickup truck.
The SUV propels across the lot, ramming into a gas pump before slamming into two parked cars.
The video shows an orange glow igniting from the impact at the gas pump.
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Arthur Mantas, whose family owns the gas station, was working in the mini-mart when things went haywire outside.
“All of a sudden, I look up and hear boom [and] see huge flames,” he explained. “Straight out of a movie.”
Mantas darted outside and grabbed a fire extinguisher to fight the flames.
He fully used one extinguisher, but the gas station’s fire suppression system was activated before he could grab another.
It unleashed a forceful plume of retardant powder.
“[It] knocked me to my knees. I had to cross the street. I couldn’t even breathe,” recalled Mantas. “I feel like I was stupid. I should have ran away.”
Cameras caught the woman behind the wheel of the Acura exiting the vehicle and leaving the scene.
Police said she was taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to a police report, her daughter stated that her mother believed the SUV was in park and that she wanted to put air in a tire.
Currently, no charges have been filed in connection with the destructive drive.
The Mantas family estimates the damage to be more than $100,000. The Alfa Auto Fuel station in Roslindale hopes to open up again on Friday.
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