Authorities are searching for an Austin man who police say doused a woman in lighter fluid and attempted to set her on fire in Pflugerville.
According to U.S. Marshals, 26-year-old Joshua Collins physically abused a woman he was in a relationship on the Fourth of July weekend. It was on July 4 that Pflugerville police responded to a 911 call of a woman screaming in the 500 block of Broken Feather Trail near Heatherwilde Boulevard and Settlers Valley Drive.
Police found the woman with red scratch marks on her face, a swollen lip and abrasions on her upper chest, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals office. She told police Collins caused the injuries by hitting her and throwing her inside of a residence, the release said.
Collins injured the woman after an argument began when she refused to give him the keys to her car, the release said. He had earlier taken the victim’s car without her permission and was demanding to use it again, it said.
During the altercation, according to the release, Collins retrieved a container of charcoal lighter fluid and doused the woman with its contents. He dragged her into a room and attempted to ignite the fluid with a cigarette, it said, and when that didn’t work he began looking for a lighter.
It was then that the woman ran out the front door. However, the release said, Collins was able to grab the woman in the street, dragging her back into the home by her hair. It said he knocked her against a wall and the woman feigned unconsciousness, at which point Collins left in her car.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Joshua Collins is encouraged to call 512-800-4213, Capital Area Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS, or the nearest law enforcement agency. Tips can be made anonymously.
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