Man set fire to his ex-girlfriend’s clothes January 13, 2013

Tampa Police have arrested a man who they say intentionally set fire to his ex-girlfriend’s clothes that spread into the home.

Police say on Thursday Fredrick Taylor doused clothing and other items in accelerant and set them on fire in the exterior laundry room of the home in the 1200 block of 99th Avenue which then spread to the rest of the home. Three people inside at the time were able to escape without injury.

Taylor’s ex-girlfriend, who was home at the time, told police Taylor had threatened her earlier in the day. Witnesses also told police they saw Taylor running from the home just after the fire started.

Citizen tips lead police to Taylor’s location Friday and he was arrested without incident in the 1300 block of Humphrey Street. He has been charged with arson.

South Florida Woman Said She Burned Down Hookah Lounge in “Fit of Rage” After She Was Raped There January 11, 2013

A woman arrested for first-degree arson said she torched a hookah lounge in Delray Beach in a “fit of rage” after she was raped, authorities said.

The fire in the early hours of Jan. 1 caused a total loss of the building housing Ali Babas Hookah Lounge, at 2709 S. Federal Highway, Delray Beach Police said in an arrest affidavit.

Authorities said that after the fire they found “Predator” spelled out in large letters with red duct tape on the front door, and a white couch cushion outside that had a bloodstain and “Predator” written on it.

Owner Rand Yasin told police that he had a small crowd for New Year’s Eve and that most of them had departed by 1 a.m., when he left, the affidavit said.

Yasin said that he’d recently befriended the 29-year-old woman, who he claimed had a drug problem and no home, and so had been letting her sleep inside Ali Babas on a couch because he felt sorry for her, according to the affidavit.

An Ali Babas employee said that he, the woman and many customers had been drinking alcohol that night, that she passed out on the couch, and that he locked the doors and left her sleeping there at about 2 to 2:30 a.m., the affidavit said.

The woman said that after she drank vodka and smoked part of a joint that the employee gave her, she felt drugged and not in control of her body. She said the employee raped her while she was lying on the couch and took pictures of her naked with his phone, the affidavit said.

When the drugs wore off, the woman said, she was so angry that she wrote “Predator” with the duct tape on the door and on the couch cushion, which had her blood from the rape, the affidavit said.

The woman said she was scared and furious and wanted to leave evidence of the rape in front of the business, according to the affidavit.

The employee denied being intimate with the woman, however, the affidavit said.

The woman said she lit a rag on fire, using it to set on fire the tapestries hanging on the south wall by the couches, before she ran away from the business, the affidavit said.

She was arrested Wednesday and is being held on $10,000 bond, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office records.

‘U Killed My Son’ Message Found After South Florida Pain Clinic Fire December 28, 2012

Dealing with a fire at a Hollywood pain management clinic, firefighters found a message drawn in red on the side of the building: “U killed my son drug dealer.”

Now, authorities are investigating whether the message is linked to the fire, which is considered an arson case, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

The fire occurred at Hope Medical & Wellness in the 2800 block of Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday night. The fire was extinguished and by early Wednesday, fire officials, a fire truck and several other vehicles still were at the damaged clinic building…

Once upon a mattress…

A Homestead woman was arrested Wednesday, charged with setting fire to a mattress as her ex-boyfriend and another woman slept on it.

The incident took place in the early morning hours November 11^th. 29 year old Nicole Dobol reportedly went looking for her ex-boyfriend at Hog Heaven Bar and Grill in Islamorada. His roommate was there and  told her he had gone home. He also told her not to go to the apartment where he and the ex-boyfriend lived, at the 90.2 mile marker.

Despite his warnings not to go to the apartment, Dobol allegedly broke in, forcing open the door. She went into the bedroom and found her ex-boyfriend sleeping there with another woman. As they slept, she lit the mattress on fire. When they woke up, they said she just stood there, taunting them as the mattress burned. They dragged the mattress onto a balcony and extinguished the fire. They were not injured.

The roommate returned home as the fire was still burning. He said Dobol admitted to him she lit the fire. She allegedly told him she did it because it “made her crazy” to see the two sleeping together.

Dobol was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant. She was charged with arson and burglary and she was booked into jail.

Miami man in critical condition after he was doused in gasoline and set on fire on Christmas December 27, 2012

A 44-year-old man remained in critical condition Wednesday after police say he was doused in gasoline and set on fire late Christmas night.

Police say Darrell Brackett’s car ran out of gas at NW 47th Street and 27th Avenue about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, so he walked to a nearby U-Gas station and filled up a container. On his way back to his car, three men approached Brackett, doused him in gasoline, and set him on fire while his girlfriend watched from the car.

Bridgett Brackett, Darrel Brackett’s mother, said a woman passing by came to her son’s aid. “She helped to put the fire out and he told her the only thing I did was asked a question. They didn’t have to do this to me,” said Brackett. “He’s burned over 70 percent of his body. Seventy-percent of his body.”

The manager at the U-Gas station said surveillance cameras there weren’t working at the time…

Man accused of baseball bat beatings sets self on fire September 17, 2012

Columbia County sheriff’s deputies responding to a reported disturbance at a Lake City residence say they arrived to find a man “engulfed in flames” after apparently setting himself on fire.

Prior to setting himself ablaze, the man allegedly attacked two people with a baseball bat, deputies said.

Robert Drew Manson, 49, was arrested Thursday night and charged with two counts of aggravated battery, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office release.

Deputies responded around 11:15 p.m. to a residence on Southeast Margaret Street after someone in the residence called 911, the release said. Manson shares the residence with his girlfriend and another man. When deputies drove up, they reported finding Manson on fire in the front yard.

“His shirt was on fire. His hair was on fire,” CCSO Sgt. Edward Seifert said. “He was walking around in circles and trying to take his shirt off.”

Before he lit himself up, Manson attacked both people in the house with a baseball bat for unknown reasons, the release said.

He hit his girlfriend in the body, possibly breaking her arm, deputies said, adding that Manson attacked the man while the man slept, hitting his neck and face.

When deputies arrived, they put Manson on the ground and rolled him around to extinguish the flames.

Both victims were treated by rescue workers for non-life threatening injuries, the release said, and Manson was transported to Shands at the University of Florida. Deputies said they found the bat in the house and a lighter and a bottle of lighter fluid at the scene.

Manson’s current condition is unknown, the release said, but when he recovers from his injuries, he’ll be transferred to the Columbia County jail.

“It’s quite an usual situation to see a man in the front yard on fire,” Seifert said, “but deputies  acted quickly and put the fire out.”

Man busted after illegally dumping burned motorcycle August 24, 2012

Charlotte County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Gulf Cove man for dumping his motorcycle after it caught fire at a gas station Friday night. Arrested for Violation of Florida Litter Law (Trash dumping) and Resisting an Officer, was Neil Jason Bishop, 35, 5236 Wylie Lane. 

CCSO and Charlotte County Fire were dispatched to the Mobil Gas Station, 13423 S. McCall Road, for a motorcycle that was on fire at the gas pumps. Bishop told deputies he was getting gas for the motorcycle when it caught fire and he pushed the burning cycle away from the pumps. Bishop told deputies he just bought the motorcycle from a friend a few days ago and advised he does not want it any longer since it caught fire. 

Bishop was advised to find a way to remove the burned black motorcycle from the property. He said, “It’s not my bike, I just gave it back to my friend.” He started to walk away and deputies told him to come back and remove the motorcycle. He returned and then pushed the motorcycle about 200 yards down the sidewalk. Deputies saw him drop the cycle and as they approached, he ran into a wooded area. A K9 unit arrived and Bishop was advised on the PA system to come out or the K9 would be released. Bishop finally came out and deputies said he could barely walk at that time. 

A search of Bishop located an empty pouch of incense and two metal pipes; one was still warm to the touch. Bishop said he had smoked the incense while in the woods. Bishop was transported to the Charlotte County Jail and was released after booking. His motorcycle was towed to the CCSO impound lot.

Woman set bedroom on fire after feud August 13, 2012

A New Smyrna Beach woman was arrested after deputies say she lit her boyfriend’s house on fire and then smashed his head with a ceramic vase when he called authorities, according to an incident report.

Barbara Cook, 49, was arrested and charged Saturday with arson and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She was being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail with bail set at $10,000.

Cook’s boyfriend, Drew Oldham, told deputies the two got in an argument and she locked herself in the upstairs master bedroom of the residence they share, according to an incident report. The man said he smelled smoke and forced his way into the bedroom to find the floor and foot of the bed on fire, the report shows.

Authorities believe Cook used lamp oil to start the blaze.

Oldham was able to extinguish the fire, but burned his right hand and his mustache hair in the process, authorities said.

When he went downstairs to call 9-1-1, Cook began throwing dishes and other objects and then struck Oldham in the head with a vase, the report shows.

When questioned by deputies, Cook said the altercation began after Oldham told her she could not leave to take a bath at another location, according to the incident report. She did not admit to setting the house on fire.

Some folks burn bridges when they leave a job; others nuke them. June 13, 2012

A former employee of a High Springs gas station returned Monday night, poured gasoline on himself and his car, and tried to set both on fire, authorities said.

No one would give the man a lighter, however, and he was unable to ignite the spilled fuel.

A High Springs Police Department report gave the following account: Kalpeshkumar Patel, 40, of High Springs, pulled into the High Springs Chevron gas station and convenience store at 7820 SW 50th Road around 9:20 p.m.

Using a gas pump, he then poured gasoline on himself and the car and tried unsuccessfully to get a lighter from customers.

The owner of the store told police Patel had left him several threatening phone messages, including the threat that he would burn his car in order to destroy the store.

Patel was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and attempted arson of a structure. He was being held without bond at the Alachua County jail.

As if it weren’t hot enough outside, this woman decided to really turn up the heat. June 11, 2012

A 41-year-old woman is facing multiple charges including attempted murder after deputies say she set fire to her home in Golden Gate on Sunday.

Lisa Lanham, 1810 19th St. SW, was charged with one count of attempted murder, two counts of arson of a dwelling, and one count of arson with bodily injury. The incident was investigated by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

James Lanham, 36, told deputies that he awoke shortly before 1 a.m. to his wife, Lisa Lanham, setting their home on fire with a lighter. Cameron Sanders, 24, was living in a shed converted into a makeshift bedroom behind the residence. Sanders told deputies that he awoke to Lisa Lanham lighting his bed on fire.

When deputies arrived, both the house and storage shed were in flames. James Lanham was not injured. Sanders received minor burns to his feet and hands.