Santa Ana mechanic sentenced for setting fire to homeless man

A Santa Ana mechanic charged with setting fire to a 64-year-old homeless man and his possessions was sentenced Monday to five years in state prison.

Hector Manuel Medina, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of arson causing great bodily injury with an enhancement for using a flammable fluid to light the fire, the Orange Count district attorney's office said.

Prosecutors objected to the five-year sentence. They had sought an 11-year sentence based on the injuries suffered by Ruben Sandoval, who was attacked in an alley Jan. 2 behind an auto repair shop in the 100 block of South Main Street in Santa Ana, the district attorney said.

Medina was accused of dousing Sandoval's shopping cart with gas. Some of the fluid splashed onto Sandoval.

Medina then set fire to the cart, burning all of Sandoval's clothing, food and blankets. Sandoval's beard caught fire, and his hands and face were burned, according to the district attorney.

Sandoval suffered second and third-degree burns. He remains hospitalized and cannot breathe without a respirator, the district attorney said.

Medina was allegedly angry because he had caught Sandoval sleeping in Medina's car on a rainy day in December and warned him not to return to the area, the district attorney said.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Comments

[syscom3]

Five years for setting a man on fire?

He should have gotten five decades.

[My opinon means nothing]

This scumbag gets only five years for destroying this guy who was down on his luck's life. Even eleven years is not enough. He should pay for all his medical expenses for the rest of Sandoval's life, set him up in some nursing care facility, and pay him four-times the amount for what his property was worth before he destroyed it. And the reason Medina did was because he didn't want him sleeping behind his place. How much better things would have been if Medina had offered Sandoval a warm place to sleep.

[Rick]

Five years is not enough, will he recover from his injuries in five years, no. He will be suffering from this for the rest of his life. He should file a major lawsuit against the suspect for the pain and suffering he caused him by setting him on fire.

[limo]

Any explanation why the judge was so lenient? How can we rid our society of these judges who let bad people back out on the street to harm others again, while the judge just sit back and don't worry because they have all kinds of security around them!

[TheBigPicture]

I could see 5 years if this victim was a tax paying productive member of society...

[Lou]

We've got a psychopath who deliberately committed an heinous, inhumane and cruel act of hateful revenge on a downtrodden soul seeking shelter for the night. Obviously the judge who sentenced this deviant failed to recognize the deep-seated mental issues behind his actions. There's a good chance this homeless individual was a Military Veteran, although no details were provided, and apparently nobody cared enough to focus on the victim or his circumstances.

[observer]

WOW ! Just for wanting to be warm and dry.....

This guy should be in jail for a while, BUT with the way they have no more room in prison he will get out early.

Ruining someone's life these days does not seem to matter much to the judges in our court system.
Our society is messed up and is not getting any better!

[Sarah Gerard]

This is the second time I've heard of a homeless man being set on fire in Los Angeles. The first one died. What is going on in your city?

[Sarah Gerard]

And yes, I agree. Five years only begins to approach the amount of punishment this man needs. Burning a homeless person's food and clothing could kill them just as easily as a fire could. Everything that man had in this world was stored in that shopping cart.

[Jim Q. Citizen]

Why does the L.A. Times not identify the judge in this horrible case? How can a crime this shocking, with a sentence to paltry, go unquestioned in a civilized society? Southern California is beginning to look more like Tijuana everyday.

[pmg]

Excellent "TheBigPicture", only those with the right income and zip code deserve justice and protection under the law.