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Assault with fence post, attempt to burn house?
WOMAN FACES FELONY CHARGE AFTER FIRE
By Marc Robertson
A Cotulla woman was remanded into custody on assault and arson charges Friday afternoon, September 15, after she allegedly inflicted injuries to her former boyfriend with a metal fence post and twice attempted burning down a mobile home in which he lives.
Identified as Angel Renee Lopez, 18, the woman is also suspected of having set fire to a field near County Road 3408, an incident in which a property owner was injured.
In his report on the case, La Salle Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Mirelez said he had been in the vicinity of an emergency call south of Cotulla at around 5 p.m. Friday and arrived at the scene of the wildfire to meet a woman who initially claimed she had no knowledge of the blaze. The woman was subsequently identified as Lopez; witnesses and nearby residents later made statements to the officer indicating they had seen the suspect walking from an area that was burning.
Deputy Mirelez said he approached a home on Comanche Road a short distance from the wildfire on CR 3408 and met a teenager identified as Rocky Castillo, who said Lopez was his ex-girlfriend and that she had repeatedly assaulted him.
Castillo, 17, bore indications of having been struck in the chest, hand and face, and appeared to have suffered a burn to the back of the head, the deputy said.
The teen reported to the deputy that Lopez had struck him with a metal fence post and that she had tried to set fire to the exterior wall of the mobile home and that she had then started a fire in a pile of papers in a second attempt to burn the residence.
Castillo said Lopez’ violent behavior had begun after the couple had engaged in an altercation in the home. Castillo and Lopez are the parents of an infant who is presently in the care of Child Protective Services.
Deputy Mirelez noted that an examination of the residence revealed marks indicative of an attempt at starting a fire, and signs of the home’s front door and doorframe having been struck repeatedly with a heavy object.
At the same time as Deputy Mirelez was interviewing Lopez and Castillo, La Salle firefighters were extinguishing a blaze that ultimately claimed two acres of brush country. Landowner Reyes Aguero was listed as having sustained injuries in his attempts at preventing the fire from destroying a shed containing a water well.
Aguero was transported by ambulance to Frio Regional Hospital in Pearsall for treatment of head injuries.
Deputy Mirelez reported that the wildfire moved to within twenty feet of homes along the county road. An arson investigation has been summoned and will determine whether the wildfire was deliberately started.
Lopez was transported to the La Salle County Jail on a first-degree felony charge of arson causing bodily injury and a Class A misdemeanor charge of assault causing bodily injury. She was found in possession of a lighter and had suffered burns to the soles of her feet, according to the deputy’s report.