(Stevensville, MD) – Maryland State Police have obtained an arrest warrant for an Eastern Shore man they are guarding in a hospital today after he ignited gasoline he pumped into the car his wife was in last night, causing an explosion and fire.
The suspect is identified as Pernell Clanton Jr., 47, of the 100-block of Forest Drive, Grasonville, Md. After consultation with the Queen Anne County State’s Attorney’s Office, criminal investigators from the Centreville Barracks have obtained an arrest warrant charging Pernell Clanton with attempted first and second degree murder, first and second degree assault, reckless endangerment, first degree malicious burning, first and second degree arson, and two counts of malicious destruction of property over $500.
Pernell Clanton is currently under guard by state troopers at Bayview Hospital where he is being treated for injuries sustained from the fire he started. The charges are expected to be served on him upon his release from the hospital.
The victim is identified as the suspect’s wife, Yolanda M. Clanton, 43, who had been living at the same address as her husband until recently, when the two became estranged and she began staying with a relative. Yolanda Clanton is currently undergoing medical treatment at a hospital for burns she sustained to her face and arm.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m. yesterday, Maryland State Police from the Centreville Barracks were dispatched to a report of an explosion and fire at a convenience store in the 100-block of Main Street, Stevensville, Md. Responding troopers found a 2002 Dodge Intrepid fully engulfed in flames, parked by a gas pump. The victim and suspect were both still at the scene.
The victim advised troopers that her husband called her last night and asked that she pick him up from a bar in the area. The victim picked up her estranged husband in her car. According to the victim, Pernell Clanton told her he wanted to put gas in her car, so she stopped at the convenience store gas pumps. She said her husband went into the store and when he came back, he was smoking a cigar.
As he began pumping gas into her fuel tank while smoking, the victim said she told her husband he should not be smoking around the gas pumps. She said at that time, while she was still seat-belted in the driver’s seat, her husband removed the pump nozzle from the gas tank and began pumping gas into the interior of the car through the open rear window.
While she struggled to unfasten her seat belt and exit the car, the victim said her husband used a lighter to ignite the gasoline inside the car. The gasoline exploded just as she exited the vehicle.
Another motorist was pumping gas nearby when the explosion occurred. He ran to the emergency cutoff switch for the gas pumps and shut the system down.
Fire crews from the Stevensville Volunteer Fire Department responded and extinguished the blaze. The victim’s car was burned completely, but neither the gas pumps nor the store building caught fire.
The victim refused medical treatment at the scene, but has since sought treatment at a hospital. Troopers arrested Pernell Clanton at the scene and transported him to the Centreville Barracks.
While at the barracks, troopers summoned EMS personnel to examine the suspect. Due to the burns on his face and arm, a paramedic determined he should be transported to the hospital. A Maryland State Police helicopter transported the suspect to Bayview Hospital in Baltimore where he remains.
Deputy state fire marshals from the Office of the State Fire Marshal responded to the scene and assisted troopers with the investigation. They processed the fire scene and collected evidence. A State Fire Marshal’s K-9 team examined the area and the dog alerted to the presence of an accelerant on the victim’s clothes and inside the car.
The investigation is continuing.
