CRIME LOCATION: 4062 Bayshore Drive, Apt. 626, East NaplesWHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008
TIME: 2:33 a.m.
ARRESTED: Omar Cortez, 32, 3000 Areca Ave., Apt. 1, East Naples
CHARGES: Attempted first-degree murder (three counts), arson and burglary
SUMMARY: Deputies arrested Cortez on felony charges after they say he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and tried to burn it down while she, her mother and baby slept inside.
Arrest reports gave this account:
Michelle Gonzalez, 27, and Marta Villegas, 70, told deputies that they awoke to the sound of smashing glass and the smoke alarm going off inside her apartment. Gonzalez went into the kitchen where she saw a cloth engulfed in flames on the front burner of her stove. She poured water on the cloth and called authorities. She told deputies the cloth had been on the kitchen counter prior to her going to bed.
All of the stove’s electric burners were turned on high. The refrigerator door was open and the front door to the apartment was open.
Gonzalez’s 1-month-old daughter was asleep in a crib in the back bedroom.
Deputies found a yellow polo shirt near the front room window, which had been smashed. Gonzalez told deputies the shirt belonged to her ex-boyfriend, Cortez, and it had been among his belongings that she packed up for him when she kicked him out of the apartment Aug. 3. She told deputies he had not been allowed back inside the apartment since that day.
Cortez came to the apartment on Tuesday afternoon, but Gonzalez and Villegas refused to let him inside. Gonzalez said Cortez called her on the telephone numerous times Tuesday evening. Around 11 p.m. he left her a phone message, saying that he “had to do this tonight.” She said she didn’t understand what he meant and deleted the message. She said she re-checked the locks on the door and went to bed.
Deputies on patrol reported seeing Cortez walking north on Bayshore Drive around 2:20 a.m. Deputies said they noticed Cortez because he had an unusually long stride. Deputies asked Gonzalez if there was anything unusual about Cortez’s walk and she told them he takes unusually large steps.
Deputies located Cortez at his residence and arrested him.
