ROBERTSDALE, Ala. (WKRG) — A man in Baldwin County is behind bars and charged with arson after police said he intentionally set a home on fire and barricaded the door so his roommates could not escape.
Investigators said they will pursue attempted murder charges for Marlon Pineda-Enamorado, 38, after a New Year’s Day fire that could have been deadly.
Crime scene tape surrounds the outside of a mobile home on Precious Drive in Robertsdale but inside photos taken by police show how close it came to becoming a death trap.
“The suspect had used an accelerant, gasoline, to light several mattresses on fire inside his room and causing the entire home to be filled with smoke,” said Robertsdale Police Lt. Paul Overstreet.
A 911 call alerted police to a problem at the home on New Year’s Day according to Overstreet. “The suspect was acting crazy, throwing things around his room, breaking windows.”
Police said a deadline and alcohol fueled the rampage. “There was a conversation with him about finding somewhere else to live and they had given him a certain time frame to get out of the home,” said Overstreet.
When police arrived, Marlon Pineda-Enamorado, 38, was standing outside the front door. A gas can in one hand and physically holding the door shut so none of the six people inside, ranging in age from 16 to 73, could get out.
A window breaks and smoke pours out of the home and so do five roommates climbing out through the window. A sixth person, the 73-year-old homeowner, would be found collapsed at the front door overcome by the smoke. He was taken to a local hospital and later released.
Pineda-Enamorado remains in the Baldwin County Jail. Investigators said they will petition a Baldwin County Grand Jury to add six charges of attempted murder.
Immigration records show Pineda-Enamorado was deported to Honduras in 2012. It’s not clear how long he had been back in the U.S.
