A man is accused of severely beating a gas station clerk and trying to start an explosion after he was denied a job application in Chicago's far northwest suburbs.

Austin Silverman, 29, of Woodstock, has been charged with attempted first degree murder and aggravated battery.

McHenry County prosecutors said, on New Year's Eve morning, Silverman went into the Shell gas station on Eastwood Drive in Woodstock, and asked the clerk working behind the counter for a job application.

When he was denied an application, Silverman allegedly went behind the counter and began punching and kicking the clerk.

He then went outside, and unsuccessfully tried to blow up the gas station by extinguishing a cigarette into a gas pump.

Police arrived a short time later as Silverman tried to get back inside the gas station after the clerk locked the door, and Silverman was arrested at the scene.

At his first court appearance on Friday, a judge ordered him held in jail as he awaits trial. He is due back in court on Wednesday.