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The Madison Police Department is investigating an assault on an 18-year-old Black woman as a potential hate crime after she was burned on the face and neck early Wednesday morning.

Althea Bernstein told Madison365 that someone yelled the N-word at her and threw lighter fluid and a lighter through her open car window as she was driving in the State Street area in downtown Madison.

According to a police incident report recorded Thursday morning, Bernstein saw four white men approach her car that night. The report says one of them used a spray bottle to deploy a liquid on her face and neck, and then threw a flaming lighter at her, causing the liquid to ignite.

Bernstein reportedly drove forward, patted out the flames, and drove home, where her mother encouraged her to go to a hospital. Hospital staff believed the liquid was lighter fluid. She was treated for burns, and will need to make follow-up visits for additional medical care.