A North Miami Beach man is facing a first-degree arson charge and a second-degree attempted murder charge after investigators say he deliberately set a bedroom fire that caused an estimated $120,000 in damage. Jeffthe Arisda was taken into custody by North Miami Beach police on Friday, following an investigation into a blaze that witnesses say he set after days of threatening behavior toward his own family.
According to the Tampa Free Press, investigators determined that the fire originated in a bedroom and was fueled by ordinary combustibles, with no natural or accidental ignition source found near the point of origin. Officials classified the blaze as incendiary, a determination that led directly to the arson charge against Arisda.
Witnesses told authorities that Arisda walked into the bedroom, gathered piles of paper and napkins, and grabbed a disposable lighter before the fire broke out, the outlet reports. He then reportedly ran out of the bedroom shouting about a fire, according to the same witness accounts relayed to investigators.
A Pattern of Threats Before the Fire
The fire did not come without warning signs, witnesses say. Family members told authorities that Arisda had recently threatened them and had slashed his stepfather's car tires in the days leading up to the blaze, according to the Tampa Free Press report. A witness also described Arisda as acting aggressively in the period before the fire started.
When detectives approached Arisda for questioning, he appeared agitated, and investigators ultimately deemed him too volatile for a standard interview, per the outlet's reporting. Authorities booked him into local custody once the fire investigation was complete.
Joint Investigation and Statewide Response
The case was investigated jointly by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the Florida Department of Financial Services' Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations, working alongside the North Miami Beach Police Department. State officials announced the charges following the conclusion of that investigation.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, whose office oversees the state fire marshal's arson bureau, said violent arsonists who endanger innocent people must be taken off the streets, per the Tampa Free Press account. Ingoglia praised his investigators along with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the North Miami Beach Police Department for their work on the case, and said investigators would continue pursuing arson crimes to the fullest extent of the law.
What Florida Law Says About the Charges
Under Florida law, arson that results in bodily harm to another person is treated as a first-degree misdemeanor regardless of whether the harm was intended, and escalates to a second-degree felony if the harm is great, permanent or disfiguring, according to Florida Statutes Section 806.031. The same statute allows a person to be sentenced separately for an arson-injury violation and any arson committed during the same criminal episode.
Separately, Florida Statutes Section 782.051 classifies an intentional act committed during an attempted felony that could, but does not, cause another person's death as a first-degree felony when the underlying felony is not among those specifically listed in the statute, with imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life. It remains unclear what penalties Arisda could ultimately face, as court records on his case were not available in the reporting reviewed for this story.
