Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

‘It Was Just a Prank,’ Couple Arrested After Allegedly Setting Homeless Man on Fire
WTKR ^ | JULY 25, 2015

Posted on 07/25/2015 10:41:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway

A couple has been arrested after allegedly setting a homeless man on fire with fireworks earlier this month.

On July 11, authorities say a homeless man was sleeping along the side of a road when he was set on fire by fireworks, which were thrown from an SUV.

Now, police have arrested 31-year-old Joshua Benavidez and 31-year-old Irene Enriquez for aggravated battery with great bodily harm, tampering with evidence, child abuse and conspiracy.

The pair told KOB that they were trying to startle the man, and did not know that he had been burned until their arrest.

“It was just a prank, it was just trying to scare him, that was it,” said Benavidez.

However, arrest warrants in the case tell a different story.

After surveillance video was released of the crime, authorities received multiple tips about Benavidez’s purple SUV.

However, police allege that Benavidez painted his SUV white after the alleged crime.

At the time, Benavidez denied having any involvement in the crime.

They have now been charged with child abuse because investigators learned their children were with them during the alleged attack.

One boy told investigators that his parents threw the firework onto the sleeping homeless man.

The arrest warrant alleges that they saw the man’s pants were smoldering as they began to drive away.

They told investigators that Enriquez tried to put water on the man, who was on fire and unconscious.

The arrest warrant alleges that Benavidez would not let her, and fled the scene.

The victim is still in the intensive care unit at a New Mexico hospital.


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: newmexico; sick
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last

AAAAAAAANNNDDD.....
You people are about to get yourselves a size 37 butthole in a federal penitentiary.

But it’s okay.
It’s just a prank!


21 posted on 07/26/2015 12:18:35 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (With the things that are about to come to light. People might just need a little old-fashioned.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

How much more malicious and callous could these losers get?

And in front of their kids no less. I hope they both get everything that’s coming to them for this. Everything.


22 posted on 07/26/2015 1:02:35 AM PDT by Paulie (America without Christianity is like a Chemistry book without the periodic table.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CurlyDave

That poor guy wasn’t hurting anyone. I pray he recovers. On the bright side, he will have a nice bed and food while in the hospital recovering. I’m sure these people will lose custody of their kids, and that’s NO prank!


23 posted on 07/26/2015 1:24:40 AM PDT by Catsrus (WWWW)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: rikkir

> There’s a special place in hell for people like this.

From the looks of their faces I think God paid it forward


24 posted on 07/26/2015 3:41:51 AM PDT by jsanders2001
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Joshua Benavidez was already on probation for assault on a peace officer and tampering with evidence. I wonder what kinds of things Joshua has gotten away with in the past. I doubt he just made the jump from being a little angel as a teenager and young man to throwing intensely hot and explosivly burning black powder onto a passed out human being. I suspect that Joshua is probably the sort of guy who played his so called ‘pranks’ on the family and neighbors pets as a kid. If this guy doesn’t have a ‘come to Jesus moment’, he’s the type who’s gonna think whatever sentence is handed down to him was an injustice; that he was treated unfairly and it’s actually HIM that is the victim. Such will fuel his sociopathy, and next thing we’ll read about him will be in 20 years when cops are digging bodies of missing children out of his backyard. His neighbors will be shocked because he ‘was a nice guy’, ‘he was quiet and kept to himself’, sort of thing.

Then again, maybe it was all just a mistake. He didn’t mean to get caught. Normal people throw fire on sleeping people from time to time. It’s just a way to celebrate the holiday all in good fun. /sarc


25 posted on 07/26/2015 5:01:03 AM PDT by Carthego delenda est
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Just Mexicans having fun. Let’s celebrate diversity here.


26 posted on 07/26/2015 5:03:37 AM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

"It's a stinking world because there's no law and order anymore! It's a stinking world because it lets the young get on to the old, like you done. Oh, it's no world for an old man any longer. What sort of a world is it at all? "

- A Clockwork Orange

27 posted on 07/26/2015 5:05:54 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ScottWalkerForPresident2016

You think that teaching your children it’s fun to commit horrible things to innocent people doesn’t rise to the level of child abuse?


28 posted on 07/26/2015 5:16:28 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (I'll vote for Jeb when Terri Schiavo endorses him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Enriquez
Benavidez

There is something in common with these names... some trend. I can’t quite put my finger on it. What is it that I’m not seeing here?


29 posted on 07/26/2015 8:28:23 AM PDT by Sequoyah101 (I don't see how we have kept going this long)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Norm Lenhart

Can i use that statement as one of my taglines?????


30 posted on 07/26/2015 10:24:41 AM PDT by Shimmer1 (America: Sic transit gloria mundi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Sequoyah101
"There is something in common with these names... "

They both end in a Castilian lisp.

31 posted on 07/26/2015 12:08:05 PM PDT by shibumi ("Cover it with gas and set it on fire.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Shimmer1

Sure. The sooner people warm op to the idea, the better.


32 posted on 07/26/2015 12:19:37 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Norm Lenhart

done. thanks


33 posted on 07/26/2015 12:51:48 PM PDT by Shimmer1 (Liberals need to be caged for the safety of human beings. (FReeper Norm Lenhart))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Shimmer1

We cannot coexist with these beings. They want us dead, They crap all over everything the Founders intended. They side with anyone and anything that harms America.

Put them in cages like one would any rabid animal until we can decide on a more long term solution to splitting the country. I am tired of them calling for us to be marginalized. It’s time we return the favor.


34 posted on 07/26/2015 12:58:02 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-34 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson