2 transit cops put on leave after suspect sets self on fire

MINNEAPOLIS – Two Twin Cities Metro Transit police officers were placed on leave after a man they arrested set himself on fire in the back of a squad car and suffered critical injuries.

Metro Transit spokesman Howie Padilla tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the man was arrested Sunday morning as part of a criminal investigation near the U.S. Bank Stadium light-rail station.

A Minneapolis Fire Department report says the man suffered “burned skin throughout his torso after” setting his clothes on fire with a cigarette lighter.

Padilla says the man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital for treatment. The fire department report says a Metro Transit officer suffered minor burns while pulling the man out of his squad car.

The unnamed officers were placed on standard administrative leave while the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates.

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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com