Fla. woman doused in gas, set on fire at 7-Eleven
ABOVE PHOTO: Roosevelt Mondesir (l) and Naomie Breton (r.)
(Photos from Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
By Matt Sedensky
Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A woman was severely burned Monday after being doused in gasoline and lit on fire outside a 7-Eleven store in South Florida in a dispute with the father of her child, police said.
The 34-year-old Naomie Breton was waiting in her silver Mercedes at the store shortly before 3 AM, Boynton Beach Police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said. She was meeting her ex to pick up her 4-year-old son for whom they share custody.
Breton in March moved out of the home she shared with Roosevelt Mondesir, the father of her 4-year-old son. She told police the two were meeting about 3 AM outside the 7-Eleven at 7044 Lawrence Road in Boynton Beach to exchange custody of the boy.
Breton, a limo service dispatcher, was pumping gas into her silver Mercedes when Mondesir's white Jaguar pulled up. But her son was not with him. Instead Mondesir rushed at her with the gas can and what appeared to be a machete, police said. Mondesir poured gas on Breton and set her on fire.
"Get away from me!" Breton yells as she tries to lock her attacker outside the store. Moments later, he drags her outside. She reappears on camera engulfed in flames, shrieking hysterically as she tears off her shirt. A frantic store clerk calls 911 and the attacker ran off, police said.
Police dogs and helicopters found him two hours later, crouched behind bushes near the 7-Eleven. The incident ended with Breton at the hospital and Mondesir, 52, behind bars on a charge of attempted murder.
Boynton Beach police officers broke into Mondesir's nearby home on Mackinac Road near Lantana, where they found the pair's 4-year-old son sleeping, unharmed and alone, said Boynton Beach Police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater.
The boy is now in the custody of Breton's relatives, Slater said.
The attack followed charges by Breton that Mondesir had for months threatened her and had outbursts of rage, court records show. She tried get a restraining order against him on May 29, but was turned down after the judge cited a lack of evidence.
Information added from Orlando Sentinel.
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