The National Police have arrested a Romanian homeless man in Costa Adeje, in the south of Tenerife, on suspicion of attempted murder after he set light to a butane gas cylinder to set fire to and blow up another man who refused to let him sleep in his car.
According to reports, the incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday, (October 1st), in a parking area near the Magma Arte y Congresos centre, not far from the National Police station in Playa de Las Americas.
Allegedly the two homeless men began arguing, after which one of them, a Spanish citizen, got into his car and fell asleep. The Romanian man, in an apparent act of retaliation, set fire to a nearby palm tree using a gas cylinder, which he then placed on top of the car’s boot, seemingly with the intention of setting the car alight while the other man slept inside.
Fortunately, the fire only caused damage to the car's paintwork, but the situation could have been far worse.
The police quickly arrived at the scene and were able to wake the sleeping man and extract him from the vehicle. The victim was unharmed and did not suffer from smoke inhalation. In addition to the fire, the suspect is said to have thrown objects at the victim and even tossed the victim’s wheelchair some distance away.
The accused was taken into custody and is now awaiting trial under the jurisdiction of the Arona courts in Los Cristianos.
