Marines Press Charges Against Distraught Dad

Burned Marine Van And Himself After Told Son Was Killed In Iraq

Upgraded From Serious To Stable-But-Guarded Condition

Aug 26, 2004 4:12 pm US/Eastern

HOLLYWOOD, Fl. (CBS) The Marines will press charges against a distraught Florida father who snapped after three Leathernecks came to his door to tell him his son had been killed in Iraq.

Carlos Arredondo torched the van the Marines came in and seriously burned himself. The Marines were not injured, and the Corps will press charges, a spokesman said. Arrendondo faces charges of arson and destruction of government property, reports CBS station WFOR-TV.

Arredondo's wife, Melida, said she and her husband knew what was coming as uniformed Marines approached their front door.

"Three Marines came to our door, we could see through the window. And my husband immediately knew that his first-born son had been killed," she told WFOR-TV.

While she started to cry, police say Carlos Arredondo simply snapped.

Distraught, he climbed into the Marine Corps van parked outside his home and set it ablaze Wednesday afternoon, suffering severe burns.

"It doesn't surprise me that he was so traumatized. He went crazy," Melida Arredondo said.

Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo, 20, based at Camp Pendleton, had died Tuesday in Najaf, Iraq.

His father allegedly took out his grief on the nearest representation of the government, the U.S. Marines' van.

"At one point he actually goes into the garage, picks up a can of gasoline and/or a propane tank, runs towards the vehicle, smashes the vehicle window and sets the U.S. governmental vehicle on fire," police Capt. Tony Rode said. "He's still inside the vehicle as it is fully engulfed in flames."

The Marines, reservists who are members of a military Casualty Assistance Calls Officer team, pulled Arredondo, 44, from the burning vehicle and extinguished the flames on him, police said. None of the Marines was injured but the van was gutted by the fire, Marine Maj. Scott Mack said.

"The father was in disbelief, same as any of us would be after hearing this kind of news," Rode said. "But he should have known better. Burning government property is a felony. He's going to go to prison for quite a long time."

Arredondo was listed in serious condition with severe burns to his arms and legs.

Melida Arredondo told the Miami Herald that her husband, an immigrant from Costa Rica, "was very proud of Alex serving," though he wished his service would have been during a "more peaceful" time.

But Luz Marina Arredondo, Alexander's grandmother, felt the government was at fault for her grandson's death.

"I blame them a lot," she said. "They send them like guinea pigs over there."

Marine spokesman Capt. Patrick Kerr in New Orleans told the Herald that the incident was "one tragedy on top of another tragedy."

"Our foremost concern is being compensated for the cost of replacing the van that the father burned," Kerr said. "We will do everything we can to ensure that he pays for the damage he's caused to government property."

"I don't think any of us are qualified to go into the depths of a mind and truly anticipate why they would damage taxpayer assets," said Mack.

U.S. forces in Najaf have been battling for nearly five months against Iraqi militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Wednesday was Carlos Arredondo's 44th birthday.

(© 2004 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. )

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Here is what one of the lines is from the original story, which is liked here:

"Our foremost concern is for the welfare of the father who was burned," Kerr said. "We will do everything we can to help the family through this very difficult situation."

You lied about what the story said, There is no mention about the replacement of the van. In fact in todays papers the Marines say they will not request that the family pay for the loss of the van.

You must assume that none of us are smart enough to look at the real story. The publisher of this line should pull your story just for that.

Here is what was posted:

"Our foremost concern is being compensated for the cost of replacing the van that the father burned," Kerr said. "We will do everything we can to ensure that he pays for the damage he's caused to government property."

Here is what is in the real article:

"Our foremost concern is for the welfare of the father who was burned," Kerr said. "We will do everything we can to help the family through this very difficult situation."

It is one thing to hate the government but to lie over somehthing like this is without cause. It is not like it was hard to check, the link is right here. I would hope everyone would take a look.

By the way the Marines are not going to try to get the money back for the van, buy a newspaper.

they'll stoop to spoofing news storys? Why??

What sort of person would do such a thing? And why??

By changing that line, it would just make people angrier at the government and at this war. But of course, since this is LA IMC, the Republicans would get the blame.

So it must have been the resident anarchists that did that. Another example of why indymedia is not to be trusted as a valid news source.

if the original news article was 'operated on.' Another reason to check the source always.

"...trusted as a valid news source."

Oh, do you have a source that you 'trust' implicitly?

Wake up, please.

Not implicitly. No.

But I have plenty that are valid.

You see, "valid" and "implicit" are different words, with different meanings.

One means "Well grounded in logic or truth or having legal force" and the other means "Without doubting or questioning".

Indymedia is neither.

...the "plenty" that you believe are "valid", I guarantee you, have done worse, but you do not discount their "validity", but instead defend it....why is that?

Maybe because they say what you want to hear...and you only get agitated when they don't.

How can you guarantee that my valid news sources purport outright lies like this source article in question? What proof have you for such unfounded claims? What I want to hear is objective news, not blind effusive rhetoric laced with lies. That’s the difference between news and propaganda. You may enjoy these games, and being lied to, but I don't. Nor should I.

is simple. It's called accountability.

You see, if the LA Times took an article off the AP newswire, twisted a few sentences around to say the exact opposite of what was written, and put it forth as the honest to God truth, they'd open themselves up for one hellacious law suit.

But LA Indymedia can and does do that exact thing frequently and without reprisals, claiming it's not responsible for what it purports on it's website.

'But LA Indymedia can and does do that exact thing frequently and without reprisals, claiming it's not responsible for what it purports on it's website

.'

That's why we have you here, Surelock.

That should be the reason anyone is here. To offer commentary and pare for facts or reasonable logic. There are people who actually read this board for information without ever commenting. Few of the readers ever comment. Now you can feel special just like me.

"But LA Indymedia can and does do that exact thing frequently and without reprisals, claiming it's not responsible for what it purports on it's website."

The reposts are by people who read the site, not by the people in Indymedia.

Wouldn't it be more effective to radically modify the story so it's obviously fake, but makes a strong point?

Besides, the Marines shouldn't care about the cost of the van. It was paid for by the people.

If it was Haliburton's van, I bet it'd have been a whole different story.