Jose Bernando Rosa Madrigal, Auburndale, Florida man, blames a random black man after setting his ex girlfriend’s home on fire. Racial profiling of perceived aggressors.
Jose Bernando Rosa Madrigal a 19 year old Auburndale, Florida man has been arrested after setting his ex girlfriend’s home on fire. Upon the boyfriend’s arrest Saturday, Madrigal insisted the inferno had been caused by a ‘random black guy’.
WFLA reported Jose Madrigal setting his ex girlfriend’s home alight while his ex and her family were still inside the home.
According to an affidavit, the girlfriend’s bedroom, the front of the home, the family’s vehicles and a canoe were found sprayed with flammable fluid. Outside the woman’s bedroom, investigators found a heart-shaped symbol drawn with the fluid.
‘He planned this in advance,’ told Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. ‘He Googled how to burn the house, he mixed the combination and poof, he set it on fire — And poof, we put him in jail.’
Adding, ‘It’s by the grace of God that we don’t have three people burned up in a house fire.’
Jose Madrigal sends girlfriend several threatening texts warning he would burn down her home.
Prior to setting the home on fire, Madrigal allegedly sent his girlfriend several threatening texts via Snapchat warning he would burn down her home.
During questioning the former boyfriend told investigators he was at his mother’s home 25 minutes away when the fire was set. Nevertheless the man’s professed alibi was debunked whe surveillance cameras caught him driving past the home several times.
Police said Madrigal acknowledged that he drove several times in front of the home after he and his girlfriend had an argument. He said the third time he went by, he noticed a fire burning in the front yard, whereby the boyfriend said he saw a ‘random black guy’ light it and flee the scene.
Court documents showed Madrigal searched ‘can you start charcoal with gasoline house on fire’ on his cell phone before the house went up in flames.
James Scott, the father of the girlfriend, told The Daily Beast they ‘caught it in time before it blew up’ and caused greater damage to the home.
‘I thank God because God was on our side,’ he said. ‘If it would have gone 5 or 10 minutes more, the car would have blew up. My house would have been on fire. He could have killed us.’
Scott went on to say his daughter had recently requested some space from Madrigal, whom he described as ‘controlling.’ Madrigal and the girl, who are high schoolers, had been dating for a year.
The 19-year-old faces three counts of attempted first-degree homicide, one count of first-degree arson and possession of liquor by a person under 21 after investigators found a half bottle of vodka in his vehicle. The slew of charges follows Jose Madrigal having prior domestic violence charges.
