ST. CROIX — A 42-year-old man is facing arson and assault charges after allegedly beating a resident with a stick and setting his container home on fire in Work and Rest on Friday, shortly after the victim filed a police report against him over vandalism and a dispute involving a missing spear gun.
Joshua Torres was arrested Friday and held on $100,000 bail after police responded to the incident, which left the victim with injuries to his head and forearm and his residence destroyed by fire.
According to a police report filed in court, the victim first visited the Ancilmo Marshall Police Station on Friday morning to report a man he identified as “Joshua.” Just over an hour later, the 911 Emergency Call Center received a request for police and emergency medical assistance for a man bleeding from the head in the Work and Rest area.
Responding officers encountered the same man who had visited the station earlier that morning. He told police that Mr. Torres had attacked him after learning about the complaint and had subsequently set his home on fire.
The victim explained that he knew Torres through fishing and had allowed him to camp on his lawn after he needed somewhere to stay. Their relationship deteriorated after Mr. Torres lost a spear gun and blamed the homeowner for its disappearance.
According to the victim, Torres subsequently cut the seats of his SUV and vandalized his property, prompting him to seek police assistance.
The man told investigators that officers visited the residence after he filed the report, but Torres avoided them by hiding in nearby bushes. After the officers departed, the victim said he was sitting on his bed when he suddenly felt a sharp pain and looked up to find Mr. Torres striking him with a stick while shouting about the police complaint.
The victim reportedly escaped the attack and ran to a neighbor's home, where he called 911. While he was speaking with emergency dispatchers, Mr. Torres allegedly set the residence on fire.
Officers arriving at the property found the container home “fully engulfed in flames,” according to the police report. Firefighters were already working to contain the blaze, while an investigating officer recognized the location as the residence where police had earlier attempted to locate Mr. Torres.
The injured homeowner was transported to the hospital for medical treatment.
Police subsequently apprehended Mr. Torres in the area and transported him to the station for questioning. During his interview, he provided a different account of the confrontation, claiming that the homeowner had disrespected him and pulled out a gun.
Torres reportedly told investigators that he disarmed the man and struck him in the head with a rubber stick. He said he later realized that the weapon he had taken from the homeowner was a pellet gun.
He also allegedly admitted to starting the fire, telling police that he poured gasoline on the man's pillows and ignited them with a match because of what he described as the “gay stuff” the homeowner had been saying.
According to the police report, Mr. Torres further admitted to cutting the seats of the homeowner's vehicle, attributing that act to the same “gay stupidity.”
Torres was arrested and charged with second-degree arson, third-degree assault, possession of a deadly weapon during a crime of violence, and destruction of property, according to the court-filed police account.
The V.I. Police Department confirmed that the fire resulted in the complete loss of the residence. Unable to post $100,000 bail, Mr. Torres was remanded to the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility pending his advice-of-rights hearing scheduled for Monday, October 26, in Superior Court.
