A 45-year-old man accused of dousing a fellow transient with some sort of flammable liquid and setting him afire was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and other felony charges.
A May 15 preliminary hearing date was scheduled for Adrian Alberto Rodriguez Herrera, who pleaded not guilty to attempted murder with a sentencing enhancement allegation of premeditation and deliberation, along with one count each of arson causing great bodily injury, assault and battery with caustic chemicals, and possession of a flammable material.
He also faces a sentencing enhancement allegation of great bodily injury to the victim.
Court records show Herrera is being held without bail, and that he finished a sentence for another crime — the details of which were not immediately available — and had been set free on March 18.
The motive for the attack that occurred about 7 a.m. last Friday attack isn’t known, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, who said the defendant refused to make a statement to detectives.
“We can’t talk to the victim because he remains in critical condition on a ventilator,” Bertagna said.
The 64-year-old victim, whose name was withheld, sustained first-, second- and third-degree burns on his upper body, the corporal said.
Orange County firefighters and police were called to First Street and Broadway, where a good Samaritan helped extinguish the flames by pulling off the victim’s flaming jacket and rolling him in rainwater, Bertagna said.
“The victim was sitting in front of a business, smoking a cigarette, talking on the phone when this guy rolls up on a bike, splashes him with two rounds of some type of flammable liquid and then lights him on fire,” Bertagna said.
About 1 p.m. Monday, police found the suspect on a bicycle in an alley in the 300 block of West First Street, which is near the original crime scene, Bertagna said.
Police were still looking for the man who came to the victim’s aid, he said.
Anyone who was a witness to the attack was asked to call police at 714-245-8390.
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