By Heather Rawlyk
The Capital
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A man pleaded guilty yesterday to setting his ex-girlfriend’s car on fire, endangering the lives of six people inside an Edgewater home last summer.
Felix Arnaldo Rivera, 33, of Hyattsville, pleaded guilty to second-degree arson in county Circuit Court in Annapolis. Judge Paul A. Hackner indicated he would give a sentence suspending all but five years in prison and, if Rivera qualifies, would order court-supervised treatment after 18 months is served.
Mulford ordered Rivera held without bond. Sentencing is set for March 21.
Prosecutors said Rivera texted his ex-girlfriend about a dozen times between 4:30 and 9 p.m. on Aug. 17, with messages including: “I want to kill myself,” “I should (expletive) kill you with me,” “Maybe I should go burn your car.”
The ex-girlfriend’s concern grew when she learned Rivera was in the area, said Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas Mitchell. Then, just before 9 p.m., she discovered her car engulfed in flames in her driveway, in the 3300 block of Oak Drive in Edgewater.
By the time county police and firefighters arrived, the flames had reached the side of the garage, just 3 feet away from the woman’s home.
Mitchell said six people were in the home at the time, ages 12 months to 81 years.
It took 25 firefighters 20 minutes to put out the fire. No injuries were reported.
The woman told police about Rivera’s threats. Officers found him walking about a mile from the home. He was carrying a cellphone, two cigarette lighters and a small amount of marijuana, Mitchell said. The hair on his legs was burned and covered in ashes.
After his arrest, Rivera told police, “I just got mad, I burned it.”
Just after the fire started, a neighbor saw a red gas container with the top off sitting on the ground next to the car. It had been burned in its entirety within minutes.
Fire investigators determined that Rivera poured a flammable fluid in the front passenger compartment and that sparked the blaze.
Copyright 2012 Capital Gazette Communications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved