UPDATE - 1/29/2024
Falfurrias Police Department officers have arrested a man suspected of starting a fire inside an ex-girlfriend's apartment on Sunday, Jan. 21.
Ruben Regalado was arrested on Sunday, Jan. 28 in a joint operation with Falfurrias PD, the Brooks County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals Office.
Regalado is currently being held in the Brook County Jail. According to Falfurrias Police Chief Will Barton, he has been charged with arson and aggravated assault.
ORIGINAL - 1/24/2024
Falfurrias Police Department are working with the Brooks County Sheriffs Department and the U.S Marshals to hunt down a person of interest in an ongoing investigation that left one woman with physical damage and no home.
On Sunday night, Vicky Acevedo said her mom was woken up to life threatening words from her mom's ex-boyfriend.
"He told her I'm going to kill you," Acevedo said.
Falfurrias Police received a disturbance call from neighbors that night, but on their way over, the situation got worse.
"He threw something at the window, which I would say was like a gas bomb, because the curtains lit on fire in seconds, the mattress, everything. She sleeps right by the window, it's a tiny room," Acevedo said.
Attempting to grab her purse before running out of her apartment, Vicky's mom burned both her hands and was rushed to the hospital.
She lost all her memories, clothes and belongings in the fire. But more than that, she lost her sense of security, despite having a protective order against her ex-boyfriend.
"The word is he’s going to finish what he started. So that puts us in a situation where we’re looking over our shoulder and we don't want to do that. We don't want to live in fear," Acevedo said.
Acevedo said the harassment has been going on for years.
"If she doesn't talk to him, he'll do something to get her in trouble, like mess with her car or mess with her apartment to get her kicked out,"
Police also said the suspect has other warrants against him, including aggravated assault.
"He moves from house to house. We’ve been looking for him. He’s a local here. I’m not sure if he has family members in other cities. If anybody’s harboring or hiding him from us they can be arrested for harboring a fugitive," Falfurrias PD Assistant Chief Robert Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the suspect is between 40 and 50 years old, with brown hair, usually wears a brown jacket and travels by bicycle.
Acevedo said she hopes the suspect is caught so her mother can feel relief knowing he's locked up behind bars, but for now her mom will have to start fresh from square one.
"We’ll have to start over, one day at a time, step by step, little by little, but it’ll get better," Acevedo said.
Police urge anyone who has seen or heard anything about where the suspect is to call 9-1-1.
