SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — A man has been arrested on suspicion of throwing a petrol bomb at the U.S. embassy in Macedonia — apparently under the influence of alcohol and a TV thriller.

Police said the incendiary device exploded harmlessly a good 50 feet (15 meters) from the embassy compound's gate, just before midnight Thursday in the capital, Skopje. The assailant managed to escape on foot.

A 37-year-old local man was arrested later after his car hit another vehicle not far from the compound. The other motorist told emergency services the suspect told her that he had "set the Americans on fire."

Police said the suspect had a high blood alcohol count. He allegedly told officers that the attack was influenced by the American thriller "Defenseless" that he had previously watched on TV.