POLK CITY, Fla.-- An Auburndale man was arrested after deputies say he set his girlfriend's house on fire with the family still inside.
Jose Bernardo Rosas Madrigal is a senior at Auburndale High School, and was upset when his girlfriend had to move back in with her parents in Polk City.
In response, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says he burned down their house.
Deputies confronted him about it when they saw him on surveillance video at the house at the time of the arson.
But Madrigal said "a black guy did it." Later, when deputies continued to press him, he changed his story to say his brother did it.
He also reportedly drew a heart out of flammable liquid on the fence closest to where his girlfriend's bedroom was.
Judd says evidence against Madrigal includes:
- Surveillance video putting him at the house at the time of the arson
- Cannisters with flammable liquid found in his car
- Snapchats saying he would set the house on fire
- Google searches about how to burn down a brick house
"Had he been better at what he was doing and chosen a time when they were all in bed asleep, this could have been really really really bad," Sheriff Judd said.
Madrigal had a history of domestic violence as an adult, and is currently in jail.
He is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree arson and possession of alcohol by a minor.
"No one's trying to bond him out," Judd said. Of course if they did, and he got angry with them, he may try to burn their house down as well."
