SENDAI (Kyodo) A man splashed kerosene on a 14-year-old boy on a street in Sendai, police said Monday.

The man approached the junior high school student, who was on his way to school, and splashed kerosene on him. The man showed him a lighter but ran away without setting light to the fuel, they said.

According to police, the man appeared to be about 40 years old and 170 cm tall. He was wearing a green cap, sunglasses and brown coat.

The man first approached the youth to ask directions and pulled him over to a nearby parking lot. He took out a plastic bottle of kerosene and splashed it over the boy's coat, police said.