Man charged with strip club fire in D.C. court

WASHINGTON - More than a year after the manager of a local strip club was set on fire, the man charged with the crime is on trial in D.C. Superior Court.

Vasile Graure, 37, is charged with assault with intent to kill for allegedly pouring gasoline and lighting it in Good Guys in Glover Park on Nov. 4 of last year. Prosecutors say Graure was upset because he'd been kicked out of the club for trying to take cell phone pictures of the dancers.

Vladimir Djordjevic, one of the club's bouncers that night, tried to stop Graure when he returned to the club. The gas suddenly ignited and Djordjevic suffered burns to more than 80 percent of his body.

He has undergone 50 surgeries and has not left his hospital bed since the incident.

Djordjevic's wife, Gloria, testified Wednesday and showed a smiling picture of her husband before the incident. She was at the club that night to pick up her husband at the end of his shift.

"Most of his clothes were gone and smoke was coming out of him. Flames were on his legs and he was walking like a mummy."

She says her husband lost his hearing in the fire, and she can only communicate with him by reading his lips.

Good Guys manager Kathleen Lazorchack says she caught Graure taking pictures with his cell phone and escorted him to the door. She says Graure swore at her and then threw his drink in the club's front foyer.

Prosecutors say Graure then went up the block to purchase a gasoline can, gas and a lighter before coming back to the club.

Lazorchack sobbed as she testified seeing Djordjevic with flames on every part of his body.

"His skin was charred, burned and glistening," Lazorchack says. "He was saying, 'dont touch me, don't touch me!'"

The jury hasn't heard this evidence, but police were able to track Graure through a credit card he used at the club's ATM. The U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested him a few days later at the Days Inn in Alexandria.

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