A man went on a city-wide crime spree in Florida after he lit his girlfriend on fire in a chair. Officers in Lakeland were notified on Friday morning after witnesses reported seeing the 26-year-old victim running out of a property on fire.

The woman crossed the road and was then covered with a sheet by one of her neighbors until emergency crews arrived.

Micheal Barnes told ABC News he was working on his car when he saw the woman running towards him.

She started hollering. I look up and she was completely in flames and was running towards us.

The grass was kind of damp. So we had to roll and smother it out. We got a blanket and put it over her.

The neighbors over here helped and we sat there and it started to drizzle. So we held a blanket over her so water wouldn’t hit.

32-year-old Joshua Kimbrough is thought to be the attacker. Kimbrough committed several other crimes across the city that day.

Lakeland Police Lieutenant Ruben Garcia said the woman was sitting in a chair when Kimbrough burned her.

Kimbrough then went to a convenience store, where he held a family at gunpoint and stole their van.

Lt Garcia said: ‘He then went on up North 98, where he allegedly committed a burglary in a residential area up there, later using a credit card from that burglary to gas up the stolen vehicle.’

On Saturday morning Kimbrough was found in North Lakeland after a call from a member of the public.

‘He was concealed underneath the residence in a cross-basin,’ Lt Garcia said. ‘The dogs located him there.’

During the arrest, two K9 unit dogs bit Kimbrough, leaving him with minor injuries. He was then taken to hospital.

The woman who was burned remains in critical condition, WTSP.com reported.

Kimbrough is being held in the Polk County Jail and was due to make his first court appearance on Sunday.

Elite.