A man is facing attempted murder and arson charges after police said he set fire to a Hialeah Gardens apartment where his estranged wife was staying with her friend.
Roisel Valdes-Cuello, 32, was arrested Monday on two counts of first-degree arson, two counts of attempted felony murder, and two counts of criminal mischief and burglary, an arrest report said.
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According to the report, Hialeah Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to the fire at 9862 Northwest 82nd Avenue around 1 a.m. on Sunday.
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Valdes-Cuello's wife, who is separated from him, had been staying with a friend at the apartment, the report said.
"My husband tried to kill me," she said. "He burned the apartment. Everything is gone."
The wife and friend weren't in the apartment at the time of the fire but it spread to a neighboring apartment where a man and his girlfriend were, though no injuries were reported.
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Once the flames were put out, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue investigator determined it had been set intentionally in three places, including two bedroom closets and on the living room sofa, the report said.
Surveillance cameras had captured the incident and the wife identified Valdes-Cuello in the footage, the report said.
"He also stole my dog," she said. "I don’t know where it is."
The footage showed Valdes-Cuello leaving the apartment with a dog under his arm as the fire expanded and it became engulfed in flames, the report said.
Valdes-Cuello's wife said he'd previously told her he wanted their dog back and that she'd seen him outside a restaurant she was at Saturday night, not long before the fire broke out, the report said.
When Valdes-Cuello was taken into custody, he denied any involvement in the fire or the theft of the dog, the report said.
Valdes-Cuello appeared in bond court Tuesday where his wife also appeared and said she was in fear for her safety.
He was granted a total bond of $111,000, given house arrest with a GPS monitor, and ordered to stay away from his wife.
