HIALEAH GARDENS, Fla. – Police arrested a northwest Miami-Dade man Monday on multiple felony charges, including two counts of attempted murder, after they said he purposely set multiple fires in a Hialeah Gardens apartment where his estranged wife was staying — and took her dog.
According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Police Department, which investigated the case, Roisel Valdes Cuello set fire to the apartment, located in the 9800 block of Northwest 82nd Avenue, just after 1 a.m. Sunday.
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Police said his wife had been staying at the apartment with a friend.
Valdes Cuello, 32, was seen on surveillance video entering the apartment through a sliding glass door and then running through the parking lot with the dog under his right arm, the report states.
According to police, Valdes Cuello’s wife told police that he had previously told her he wanted the dog back.
Additionally, hours before the fire, the woman’s friend told police that she had seen Valdes Cuello trying to enter a Fontainebleau-area restaurant they would frequent, but he wasn’t allowed in, the report states. She would later find out from a neighbor that her apartment had been set ablaze.
Police said the fire also caused damage to a neighboring unit. According to the American Red Cross, the fire impacted seven people, including two children.
Police said Valdes Cuello denied setting the fires and denied stealing the dog.
Officers arrested him on two counts each of attempted murder, arson and criminal mischief, as well as one count of burglary.
According to jail records, the Cuban national was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $111,000 bond.