Friday, August 27, 2004 Posted: 1:19 PM EDT (1719 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- -- The man who suffered serious burns Wednesday when he set a vehicle ablaze after being told his Marine son had been killed in Iraq will not face prosecution, police said Friday.
"He will not be charged," said Hollywood Police Department spokesman Carlos Negron.
Carlos Arredondo, 44, became distraught after being told by three Marine casualty officers that his son, Pfc. Alexander Arredondo, 20, had died, police in Hollywood, Florida, said.
According to a Department of Defense statement, Alexander Arredondo died as the result of "an enemy action" while serving in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
The father emerged from his home carrying a torch, gasoline tank and propane, got into the Marines' vehicle and set it ablaze, with himself inside, the Marine casualty officers said.
But despite the Marines' training in dealing with bereaved families, they were unprepared for Arrendondo's reaction and had to rely on instinct, according to Maj. Scott Mack, a unit leader interviewed by the Associated Press.
"Just like training for combat, you train for 98 percent of things that you might face," Scott told AP. The rest, he said, "you rely on instinct."
The officers pulled Arredondo from the burning van. He was taken to a hospital and then to a burn center in Miami where doctors said he was in serious condition with second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body.
A spokesman for Jackson Memorial Regional Hospital said Friday that Arredondo remains in serious but stable condition.
According to Negron, Arredondo will have to undergo psychiatric evaluations once he recovers from his injuries.
The police spokesman said the decision to not prosecute Arredondo came from the fact that he did not attempt to injure anyone but himself and out of compassion for the loss of his son.
"What the father went through, the heartbreak of losing his son, you never know how you are going to react in that kind of situation," Negron said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/08/27/fat...laze/index.html