In a 911 call released Tuesday, the woman who was severely burned at a Boynton Beach gas station told police, “He set me on fire! OK! On fire!”
“Hurry up! Please, please, please. I’m burned,” the woman told a dispatcher, according to the 911 call.
Asked if needed paramedics, the woman responded, “Yes, yes, yes!” She was then asked her age and said she’s 34.
“He’s still outside, he has a knife, he set me on fire,” the victim said.
She is recovering from wounds to her face and body at Delray Medical Center.
Roosevelt Mondesir, 52, was arrested for attempted first-degree murder on Monday after he drenched his son’s mother in gasoline, set her ablaze and chased her with a long knife at a 7-Eleven at 7088 Lawrence Road, Boynton Beach Police said.
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In another newly released 911 call, a witness reported, “There’s this guy, he has a knife, there’s fire around the entrance of the 7-Eleven.”
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The man had just fled the scene, the witness added.
The female victim drove there in her Mercedes to meet Mondesir for their “time-sharing exchange,” and told authorities that they share custody of their 4-year-old son, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Mondesir appeared in Palm Beach County bond court Tuesday. He entered a not guilty plea, was told that he would have to pay for his own attorney, and was denied bond.
The victim’s boss told NBC 6 there was trouble in her relationship with Mondesir.
“I have no doubt that she’s a strong woman. I’ve always considered her that way. I’m sorry that her strength has been tested so severely by it,” he said.
Two weeks ago the woman asked for a protective order to keep Mondesir away from her, saying that he was a threat. She wrote that Mondesir cut up furniture and threw all her belongings around the house, and threatened to hurt her and put her out of their home, Palm Beach County court records said.
"Police have been called to the house on many times. On March 26 he hit me and I hit him back and was arrested," she wrote.
She also said that she left and got her own place, but was threatened daily after that through text and voicemail messages.
But family court Judge Thomas Barkdull denied the woman’s request just an hour after she presented it, saying there was insufficient evidence for the protective order, court records said.
Broward attorney David Fuchs said he believes the judge should have done more investigation.
“Family court didn’t do its homework. Family court had reason to believe that this man had assaulted this lady before. They should at a minimum have called the authorities up in Palm Beach County to see and confirm the background of this guy,” Fuchs said.
NBC 6 sent a note asking Judge Barkdull to comment Tuesday afternoon, but the court said it could not comment on the ruling that was made. Courts do not normally make public statements analyzing their rulings.
