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DOVER — Police were in pursuit of a 37-year-old man riding a lawnmower moments after he threw two Molotov cocktails at his ex-girlfriend’s front and rear doorsteps.
The cocktails, which were emptied Budweiser beer bottles filled with gasoline with a piece of cloth sticking out of the opening, never ignited but the fumes did make breathing difficult for a number of neighbors.
Firefighters had to transport two neighbors to the hospital for respiratory problems.
Residents told police they saw Steven W. Coleman throw items at the front and rear steps of 11 Mineral Park Drive while riding a lawnmower shortly after 10 p.m., according to a police affidavit.
Police say one of the bottles was found broken. The other remained intact. Police are unsure if the cocktails were ignited before they were thrown.
Police believe the lawn mower belonged to Coleman, who lives a mile from Mineral Park Drive at 31 Upper Factory Road in Dover.
When police were called, one officer spotted Coleman smoking a cigarette while on an idling lawnmower on the small strip of road which connects Tolend Road and Whittier Street, police said.
The police officer then activated his emergency lights in his cruiser at which point Coleman took off on the lawnmower, police said.
Coleman headed north on Whittier Street towards Dicicco’s Market and then turned onto Tolend Road all while being followed by the officer with the cruiser’s emergency lights, according to police.
http://www.fosters.com/December_2004/12.06.04/news/do_1206b.asp