Deputies: Florida man sprayed child with bleach, soaked bedroom in torch fuel
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. - A Florida man is behind bars after deputies say he abused a 4-year-old child, spraying him in the face with bleach, soaking a bedroom of a home in tiki torch fuel, and driving drunk with an infant and toddler unsecured in the car.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said that Mack Arline, 31, was arrested on Saturday after deputies responded to a home on Avenue E in Ormond Beach. A police officer had been flagged down by the mother of three children.
Investigators said she showed them a video of Arline pouring fuel around their home and spraying a 4-year-old child in the face with Clorox.
"The woman told the officer that Arline was heavily intoxicated and threatening to burn down the house and kill their children," they said.
Upon arrival at the house, the Sheriff’s Office said that Arline was backing out of the driveway with two children in the vehicle: an 11-month-old baby wearing only a diaper and lying on Arline’s chest in front of the steering wheel and a 2-year-old child in the front passenger seat unrestrained.
Deputies took the children to safety and detained Arline, who they said smelled of alcohol and was not completely coherent.
On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office released bodycam footage showing deputies pulling the two children to safety.
"Leave the baby there, bro. Get the baby, get the baby, get the baby," says one deputy as they grab an 11-month-old off the suspect’s chest in the front seat.
Then, another deputy grabs a 2-year-old who they say was in the front passenger seat without a seatbelt.
"Come here, buddy, come here," the deputy says as the toddler cries.
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Officials said that the responding deputies went on to check on the 4-year-old child still inside the house. He was found sleeping on a bedroom floor with a Clorox spray bottle near him.
In another bedroom, deputies found an empty bottle of tiki torch fuel on the bed, which was wet. Aditional furniture was also observed to be wet, officials said.
Regarding the video that sparked the well-being check, deputies said that upon closer review, Arline could be seen kicking a plastic toy car into the four-year-old as he slept, then spraying him and telling him to wake up while using profanity and a racial slur.
"After the toy car hit the child, he pulled a blanket over his head to cover his face. A second video showed Arline emptying the bottle of fuel on the bed, furniture, and carpet of the master bedroom," the Sheriff’s Office.
A bottle of vodka was also found on the passenger floorboard of the vehicle Arline was in, they added. Its cork was on the driver’s floorboard and a plastic cup was in the driver’s cup holder that smelled of alcohol. Deputies said that Arline was so intoxicated that he had to be picked up and placed in the patrol car.
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Arline was put into jail on charges of aggravated child abuse, child abuse, attempted arson, DUI, and driving with a suspended or revoked license. Law enforcement also found that Arline violated his probation on a previous charge of false imprisonment and that he was inmate release status for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement.
He remains in jail without bond, the Sheriff’s Office said.
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