L.A. man charged in burning of homeless woman
A burned city bus bench seen in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles on Thursday Dec. 27,2012, after police arrested a man for allegedly setting a 67-year-old woman on fire who was sleeping on the bus stop bench. / AP Photo
LOS ANGELES A 24-year-old Los Angeles man was charged Monday with attempted murder after a homeless woman was set on fire last week as she slept on a suburban bus bench, the district attorney's office said.
Dennis Petillo is scheduled to be arraigned in Superior Court on the attempted murder charge and an additional count of aggravated mayhem, said Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney. Carney will ask that Petillo's bail be set at $1.03 million.
Prosecutors say Petillo threw a flammable liquid on the 67-year-old woman then set her on fire last Thursday. She remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, officials said.
Police have released no motive for the crime that shocked the San Fernando Valley community of Van Nuys, where the woman had made her home on the streets for years.
Neighbors set up a makeshift shrine at the bench where the woman, whose identity has not been released, habitually slept. Locals said she was known as Violet and eked out a living by recycling cans.
They described her as sweet-natured and never wanting to bother anyone. She had turned down offers of help and efforts to get her into a shelter.
If convicted, Petillo could face a maximum sentence of life in state prison. It is unknown whether he has retained an attorney.
The incident was at least the third in Los Angeles County since October in which people were set on fire.
Earlier this month, a 55-year-old man was seriously injured when he was torched as he slept outside a doughnut shop in Norwalk.
In October, Long Beach police said Jacob Timothy Lagarde, 27, threw a lit Molotov cocktail at a man who had been waiting for his father outside a store. Lagarde has been charged with attempted murder and five other counts.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Reporter Michael Hastings dies at 33
- Google asks FISA court to lift gag order on NSA requests
- Taliban: We killed 4 U.S. troops at Afghan air base
- Scientists say shipwreck timber in Lake Michigan centuries old
- TWA Flight 800 gets another look 17 years later
- Tornado briefly touches down on Denver airport runways
- Girl who lost feet in lawnmower gets prosthetics
- FAA approval sought for 650-foot-tall Vegas thrill ride
That said, there is no reason a 67 year old woman should be living on the street. There are too many benefits in this country for people her age.
Someone, anyone, family, friend or even a stranger seeing her on that bench day after day could have stepped in offering to help.
What that "man" did is truly sickening.
Once in prison, this kid will find out what it is like to be weak, defenseless, and at the bottom of the food chain.
Very sad story for both.
Even you.
TO KEEP HOMELESS PEOPLE FROM SLEEPING ON THEM.
Society itself rejects the homeless, hardly any surprise young people learn to hate them.
We are a sick country!