A 74-year-old Hollywood man is being held without bond after police say he purposely set another man on fire, leaving the victim with severe burns across his body. Jesus Montes De Oca was arrested at his home in the 800 block of South Southlake Drive and now faces charges of attempted premeditated murder and criminal solicitation or conspiracy to commit a felony.
According to WPLG Local 10, police said Montes De Oca lit the man on fire on August 28, 2026, causing severe burns. The arrest report does not specify how the two men know each other or what led up to the incident, leaving a central question in the case unanswered for now.
The victim gave his account to a detective while recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, telling investigators that Montes De Oca threw an unknown accelerant on him and lit him ablaze, per the station's report. Montes De Oca offered a starkly different version, claiming the victim had applied rubbing alcohol to himself and that he, Montes De Oca, tried to wipe the fire off the man and extinguish the flames. The victim reportedly did not allow Montes De Oca to help him, according to the same account. Hoodline could not independently verify which version is accurate, and the dossier does not indicate whether surveillance footage or other physical evidence exists to corroborate either claim.
Severe Burns and a Trip to South Florida's Only Level I Burn Center
The arrest report states the victim suffered second-degree burns. Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center houses the Miami Burn Center, South Florida's only adult and pediatric Level I verified burn center, which treats more than 600 burn patients each year. The American Burn Association notes that second-degree burns penetrate into the dermis layer of skin, causing severe pain, blistering, and fluid leakage, and often require specialized wound care or surgical intervention if the injury runs deep.
Montes De Oca was booked into the Broward Main Jail on August 28, 2026, and is being held without bond, per Broward County Sheriff's Office booking records. Under Florida law, attempted first-degree premeditated murder is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years or life in state prison, while criminal solicitation or conspiracy to commit a capital or life felony is charged as a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years, according to the Florida Senate's statutory guidelines. Booking logs show Broward County recorded more than 700 inmate bookings at county facilities during the same week Montes De Oca was arrested.
A Waterfront Neighborhood Near Hollywood Beach
The 800 block of South Southlake Drive, where officers arrested Montes De Oca, sits in a waterfront residential area surrounding South Lake, near downtown Hollywood and Hollywood Beach. The arrest capped an investigation led by the Hollywood Police Department, which recently moved into a new $80 million, 100,000-square-foot headquarters featuring a Real-Time Intelligence Center that streams live surveillance feeds across the city, as Hoodline previously reported.
Broward County has seen liquid-accelerant burn attacks draw intense scrutiny before. In October 2009, five teenagers doused 15-year-old Michael Brewer with rubbing alcohol and set him on fire in Deerfield Beach, a case that also led to attempted murder charges and treatment at Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to CBS News. Statewide, Florida's Bureau of Fire, Arson & Explosives Investigations assisted local and state agencies with 2,619 fire and explosion investigations in 2025, involving nearly $211 million in estimated property losses, per the Florida Department of Financial Services.
Formal court proceedings and any grand jury filings in the Montes De Oca case remain pending. Key questions, including the relationship between the two men, what triggered the encounter, and the specific accelerant involved, remain unresolved as the investigation continues.
