HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A 64-year-old man is facing attempted murder charges after he tried to kill his wife and another individual by setting them on fire in Hollywood last month, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
Hollywood police said officers responded to an attempted homicide call at a home in the area on Aug. 17.
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Upon arrival, a woman told police that her husband of 30 years, Gustavo Rodriguez, “intentionally and willfully” tried to end her life and that of another man by dousing them in gasoline and igniting it with a propane torch.
The woman said she and another man were asleep in his room, watching a movie, when Rodriguez entered and began recording them with his cellphone, and accused her of cheating.
Shortly after, police said Rodriguez left the room, and told the two victims, “A man has to do what a man has to do.”
The woman followed Rodriguez into the kitchen to ask if he was OK when police said he then grabbed a red gasoline container and began pouring gas on her while holding a propane torch.
During the tussle, police said the victim was able to remove the container from his hands and fled the residence while screaming for help, according to an arrest report.
Rodriguez then went to the second victim’s room, where detectives said he poured gasoline on the man and ignited the bed with a propane torch.
The second victim woke up to intense heat, leaped from the bed, and escaped through an open window, according to the report.
Rodriguez, who was covered in gasoline during the incident, accidentally ignited himself while trying to set the second victim on fire, police said. He then fled the scene in a blue Nissan Pathfinder.
Authorities said Hollywood Fire Rescue personnel extinguished the flames, and Rodriguez drove himself to Memorial Regional Hospital before being transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for his injuries.
Neither victim was physically injured, though both were covered in gasoline, according to police. Investigators said both victims told detectives they feared for their lives and wished to press charges.
Police wrote in Rodriguez’s arrest report that his actions were both “malicious and calculated to cause permanent disfigurement or death.”
Jail records show Rodriguez is being held without bond on two counts of second-degree attempted murder, criminal solicitation or conspiracy and first-degree arson in a dwelling with people present.