MIAMI – Police on Monday arrested a 46-year-old woman accused of holding her mother and a man captive inside her home for three days after attacking both of them.
Lourdes Rabell is charged with two counts of aggravated abuse of the elderly; two counts of aggravated assault on a person 65 years of age or older; two counts of false imprisonment; two counts of attempted felony murder; and, one count of arson resulting in great bodily harm.
According to an arrest affidavit, Rabell's mother and her companion arrived at the Coral Gables Police Department about 6 p.m. Sunday and told investigators her daughter held them inside her home on East Sunrise Boulevard since late Friday. Rabell's mother had burns to her face and chest and a gash below her left chin. The man had a stab wound in his upper back.
Rabell became agitated late Friday, and claimed the man had the devil in him and that he was bringing evil into their home, according to the arrest affidavit. She used a box cutter to cut the left side of her mother's chin along her throat.
When the man intervened, Rabell shrugged him off, and he fell to the floor, police said. She then stabbed him in the back as he tried getting up.
Rabell then threw a bottle of rubbing alcohol toward her mother and lit it on fire, police said. Her mother told investigators she suffered burns while trying to extinguish the flames. She suffered second- and third-degree burns on 20 percent of her body, including her face, neck, chest, stomach, and right knee.
Afterwards, Rabell took the battery out of the phone so her mother and the man couldn't call 911, police said. She then said that if they left, she'd harm herself.
Rabell's mother and her companion left the house Sunday when Rabell went into her bedroom, police said. They then went to the police department.
The SWAT team was called to the home, where Rabell was arrested without incident. Both Rabell's mother and the man were treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Police reported that they had previously responded to several calls at the home.
Court records showed that Rabell was charged with aggravated assault on a person 65 years of age or older and battery against an elderly person in 2007.