Snake decapitated, house set on fire
Central Islip, NY (US)Incident Date: Friday, Apr 17, 2009
County: Suffolk
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: José Rios
A landlord-tenant argument apparently contributed to a chain of overnight events in Central Islip when a renter decapitated his pet snake, lit a gas-fueled fire in an occupied home and threatened a relative and others with a knife, Suffolk authorities said Saturday.
"It was a strange and bizarre thing," said Larry Maxwell, the landlord, who was awoken late Friday in his smoke-filled home on Branch Avenue shortly after, prosecutors say, Jose Rios left the head of Rios' boa snake, Max, outside Maxwell's bedroom door.
"I guess he just got to his wit's end," Maxwell said.
At his arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip Saturday, Rios, 45, appeared calm and alert, following the proceedings closely and answering "Yes, your honor" clearly to a judge's questions. He pleaded not guilty to felony arson, animal cruelty and burglary, and was ordered held on $75,000 bail.
Rios' calm demeanor was at odds with descriptions of his actions the previous night provided by police and a prosecutor.
Sometime late Friday, Rios was caught on a surveillance camera buying gasoline before he went to the house he shared with Maxwell and Maxwell's partner, Jorene Palms, said police and a Suffolk assistant district attorney.
Once there, Rios cut off the head of Max, his 21/2-foot, red-tailed common boa, and "put it up against his landlord's door," the prosecutor said. Rios then doused several rooms of the house with gasoline and ignited a fire with a cigarette lighter. Rios then "attempted to awaken" Maxwell and Palms before fleeing to his sister's Glenmore Avenue house, the prosecutor said.
Once there, he broke in and threatened several people with a knife, police said. At one point, the prosecutor said, Rios said, "I can't go home. I killed everyone in that house and you're next." Rios was forced from the house and arrested at 1:33 a.m. at a nearby intersection. Rios later told police that "he wanted his landlord to die," the prosecutor said.
Police said Rios' alert of the fire was meant for Palms, not Maxwell. "There was clearly some bad feelings between himself and the landlord," said Det. Sgt. William Rand, explaining why Rios may have set the fire.
Maxwell, 38, declined to discuss details of the night's events. Rios, a friend of a friend of Maxwell's, moved into a spare bedroom about two months ago, he said, and uses a cane to get around.
He said Rios "could be the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet" but sometimes acted erratically. Rios had recently tried to sell the snake, he said.
Red-tailed boas are legal to keep as a pet and can grow to 6 or 7 feet long. Police said drugs or alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the crimes. The fire was largely contained to one room and was extinguished without extensive damage to the house; Maxwell and Palms were not hurt. References« NY State Animal Cruelty Map
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