A 19-year-old Florida man suspected of setting fire to his girlfriend's house blamed the arson on a "random black guy," according to his arrest affidavit.
Jose Bernando Rosas Madrigal, of the central Florida community of Auburndale, was arrested Saturday after he set fire to the Polk City home of his girlfriend while she and her family were inside.
Madrigal doused the front of the home, specifically his girlfriend's bedroom, with flammable liquid.
"He took some of the flammable liquid, and he drew a heart on the fence closest to where his girlfriend's bedroom was," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference.
Deputies say that prior to the incident, Madrigal had threatened on Snapchat to set his girlfriend's house on fire. When questioned about the threat, Madrigal claimed he was 25 minutes away at his mother's house when the fire occurred.
However, surveillance footage shows Madrigal's truck arriving at his girlfriend's home shortly before the fire broke out.
According to the affidavit, his cell phone records show Madrigal googled “can you start charcoal with gasoline house on fire,” and other searches including “x outside the house to burn up house."
Madrigal was arrested and charged with three counts of attempted first-degree homicide, one count of first-degree arson and possession of liquor by a person under 21 after police found a half-empty bottle of vodka in his vehicle.
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Source: counton2.com
