Disturbing surveillance footage captured the moment a deranged man threw a Molotov cocktail at a person in a wheelchair. 

The horrific crime occurred around 8am on July 2 in Oklahoma City, directly across the street from the Oklahoma City Police Department Headquarters, cops said.

The victim was not identified, but police named the suspect, 38-year-old Alexander Emery, a face-tattooed felon with a 15-year criminal history that includes a previous conviction for arson.

In the footage, a man in a wheelchair can be seen crossing diagonally through an intersection. As he approached the curb, Emery could be seen walking past him along a crosswalk. 

Emery then looks at the man in the wheelchair before suddenly turning around and pulling something out of his pocket. 

He rapidly approached the man in the wheelchair, then stopped a few feet away and paused to light a Molotov cocktail, the footage shows. 

The man in the wheelchair appears to have realized something was wrong, as he began backing up, but Emery could be seen throwing the firebomb directly at him, setting the wheelchair and the ground beneath on fire. 

The man in the wheelchair began rolling forward out of the fire, but his assailant pushed him, causing the wheelchair to tip backwards and the man to fall into the flames. 

Because the crime unfolded in front of a police headquarters, detectives in an unmarked car happened to be passing by at that moment. 

They immediately jumped out of the vehicle and drew their guns, and Emery can be seen surrendering and sprawling out on the ground.

One of the detectives ran over to the assailant to detain him, while the other detective and a bystander quickly pulled the victim out of the flames. 

The Oklahoma City Fire Department arrived and provided medical assistance to the victim, who only suffered minor injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, police said. 

Emery was immediately arrested and charged with first-degree arson, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, injuring another person by use of an explosive, manufacturing an explosive device and assault with intent to kill, which are all felonies.

He was booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $200,000 bond, according to the jail's records. The suspect told police he had randomly picked the man in the wheelchair as a target, Gray News reported.

Police said the rapid response to the crime 'showed the absolute best of our community and our first responders.'

'OKCPD detectives and a quick-thinking bystander immediately rushed into danger to help the victim and take the suspect into custody on the spot,' police added.

'Thanks to this rapid, heroic response, the victim is expected to recover, and the suspect is behind bars.'

The face-tattooed arsonist has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2011, with multiple convictions and stints in Oklahoma Department of Corrections prisons. 

He was most recently released from prison in March 2024 after spending 132 days behind bars for a motor vehicle larceny conviction, Oklahoma Department of Corrections records show. 

In March 2022, Emery was convicted of first-degree arson and served a little less than two years in prison for the charge.

He has also been convicted of possession of a controlled substance, carrying a weapon, drugs or alcohol into jail, and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury.