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Distraught father torches self in Marine van
A distraught father who had just been told his Marine son was killed in combat in Iraq set fire to a Marine Corps van and suffered severe burns Wednesday, police said. I wonder if we'll bill him for destroying gov't property. Three Marines went to a house in Hollywood to tell the father and stepmother of Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo that their 20-year-old son had died Tuesday in Najaf, family members said. The father, Carlos Arredondo, 44, then walked into the garage, picked up a propane tank, a lighting device and a can of gasoline he used to douse the van, police Capt. Tony Rode said. He smashed the van's window, got inside and set the vehicle ablaze, despite attempts by the Marines to stop him, Rode said. When the couple saw the Marines walking toward the front door, "My husband immediately knew that his firstborn son had been killed — and my husband did not take the news well," Melida Arredondo told reporters before police escorted her to the hospital. "It doesn't surprise me that he was so traumatized. He went crazy," she said. The Marines pulled Arredondo from the burning van and extinguished the flames on him, police said. None of the Marines was injured, Marines spokesman Maj. Scott Mack said. Posted by: Jarhead 2004-08-26 |
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