Ex-girlfriend wasn't home at the time. Her adult son smelled the blaze and called authorities.
Rudy Marroquin-Marroquin (Somerset County Prosecutor's Office)NORTH PLAINFIELD -- A Louisiana man has been arrested and charged with aggravated arson after allegedly setting a fire in his ex-girlfriend's apartment.
Rudy G. Marroquin-Marroquin, 27, of Bossier City, Louisiana, has been charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated arson and is being held in Somerset County jail on $100,000 cash-only bail.
Marroquin-Marroquin was arrested by a Warren Township police officer while sleeping in his 2001 Ford Taurus, authorities said.
The ex-girlfriend wasn't home at the time of the fire, authorities said. Her adult son, who initially smelled the odor of burning plastic from the fire, escaped without injury, authorities said.
On Dec. 27 at approximately 1:18 a.m., North Plainfield police and firefighters responded to a two-and-a-half story wood-frame multi-family house on Somerset Street, authorities said. The blaze, which was contained to a second-floor apartment, was extinguished in approximately an hour, said North Plainfield Fire Chief Bill Eaton.
The pair had been dating for approximately nine months, according to an affidavit filed in Somerset County Superior Court. On Dec. 26, the girlfriend said she believed the relationship was over when Marroquin-Marroquin gathered his belongings and moved out after an argument, according to the affidavit.
That day, while the ex-girlfriend was at work at a local bar, Marroquin-Marroquin allegedly entered the bar and after he had several drinks, got into an argument with her over a male patron buying her a drink and dancing with her, according to the affidavit.
Between 12:30 and 1 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 27, Marroquin-Marroquin had to be escorted out of the bar by security and while leaving made a threatening gesture towards his ex-girlfriend, according to the affidavit.
According to an investigation into the fire, the ex-girlfriend's 20-year-old son was sleeping on the couch when he saw Marroquin-Marroquin enter the apartment and then quickly leave, authorities said.
Almost immediately after Marroquin-Marroquin fled the apartment, the son smelled an odor of burning plastic coming from the kitchen. He entered the kitchen and saw a box of perfume on top of a lit stove burner and the drapes on fire, authorities said.
In his mother's bedroom, the son discovered that the bed and drapes were also on fire, authorities said. He quickly left the apartment, and all the residents of the four-family house escaped without injury. The residence is uninhabitable because of heavy fire, smoke and water damage, Eaton said.
According to the affidavit, in a statement to police Marroquin-Marroquin said he returned to the apartment after the argument and while boiling water for a pot of coffee in the kitchen, he alleged he became more enraged, removed the pot of coffee and lit all the burners on the stove before leaving.
Marroquin-Marroquin told authorities he left it to chance whether a fire would start in the apartment, and stated he didn't notice his ex-girlfriend's son sleeping on the couch, according to the affidavit.
Mutual aid departments who assisted in putting out the blaze included the Plainfield, Green Brook and Bound Brook fire departments and JFK Medical Center EMS, Eaton said.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
