A Queensland man has admitted to dousing a stranger in diesel fuel at a Canberra petrol station.
His passenger, a woman, is accused of trying to set a tampon on fire and throwing it at the same man. Police are yet to identify her.
Benjamin James Petterson, 35, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to assault and intentionally risking his victim’s safety.
He also pleaded guilty to driving furiously after the attack, and crashing into two cars without stopping to give drivers his details.
The prosecution withdrew another eight charges against Petterson on Wednesday.
Court documents said Petterson was at 7-Eleven in Casey about 7.45pm on February 8, 2019, when he took a diesel fuel pump and climbed over the tray of his ute.
He knocked on the driver’s side window of the car next to his, and when the driver opened the door, poured fuel on him.
The documents said Petterson pushed the man, who pushed him back, and unsuccessfully tried to punch his victim in the face.
The victim’s passenger told Petterson, “What the f— are you doing mate? What’s your problem? Take it over to the grass if you want to fight”, the documents said. Petterson did not respond.
His victim thought he was going to die when Petterson got back in his ute and started to drive off, the documents said. Petterson’s passenger allegedly tried to ignite a tampon, and threw it at the man through the ute’s window.
The tampon didn’t spark, and landed on the victim’s car bonnet, the documents said. He took two photos of Petterson, which police later used to identify him as his attacker.
About 10 minutes after the incident at the petrol station, Petterson crashed into two cars on Horse Park Drive in Forde – causing “extensive” damage – and didn’t stop to check drivers’ welfare, the documents said.
About 10.30pm the same night, police officers found Petterson’s burnt-out ute in a grass area at the eastern end of Australis Place in Queanbeyan, the documents said. A rail from one of the cars Petterson crashed into was embedded in the ute.
Petterson is due to be sentenced over the charges on March 24. He was extradited from Queensland prior to court proceedings in the ACT.
Extracted from The Canberra Times