Man sets fire at mom’s Miami-Dade house over Santeria ceremonial items, judge says

A 58-year-old Santeria practitioner stands accused of being truthful huffy astatine his parent for trashing ceremonial items that helium acceptable a occurrence successful Miami-Dade County.

Luis Garces, who was calved successful Colombia and lives successful Miami-Dade with his mother, appeared earlier County Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer connected Tuesday.

“He acceptable a occurrence to a location that could person killed everybody,” Glazer said astir his parent and 3 brothers who were wrong the home.

County tribunal records amusement prosecutors filed a first-degree felony lawsuit connected Tuesday against Garces for arson.

Inmate records amusement Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputies booked Garces astatine astir 7:50 p.m., connected Monday astatine the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

According to the M-DCSO deputies’ apprehension report, the struggle started erstwhile Garces’s parent woke up astatine astir 2 a.m., connected April 1, to a “strange sound” astatine their home’s backmost patio successful The Hammocks neighborhood.

The parent reported that she saw Garces “hovering implicit a fire” coming from a cooking cookware during a Santeria ritual, truthful she confronted him astir not “starting much fires” and threw distant immoderate ceremonial items.

The parent reported ignoring Garces erstwhile helium became “enraged” and “spent the adjacent 2 hours destroying” his mother’s property, including “several thousands of collectible coins crossed the floor.”

As the concern worsened, Garces’s parent reported that she decided to telephone a lad for help.

“A batch of insubstantial was burnt and helium barricaded himself successful the room,” Glazer said.

Garces’s member reported helium “smelled and saw fume coming” from a bedroom, “saw that the fume was rapidly increasing,” and heard Garces wrong threatening to “throw fire” astatine anyone who went inside.

According to the apprehension report, Garces’s member was capable to get wrong and enactment retired the occurrence and HCA Florida Kendall Hospital treated Garces for fume inhalation and a chopped to his manus connected a portion of glass.

Glazer denied bail enslaved and issued conditional stay-away orders related to his parent and 3 brothers.

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