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5 years for setting a homeless man on fire

A mechanic charged with setting fire to a 64-year-old homeless man and his possessions has been sentenced to five years in state prison.

Ruben Sandoval was attacked in an alley Jan. 2 behind an auto repair shop in Santa Ana, California.

Hector Manuel Medina, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of arson causing great bodily injury with an enhancement for using a flammable fluid to light the fire.

Prosecutors had sought an 11-year sentence based on the injuries suffered by Sandoval when his shopping cart was doused with gas.

Sandoval suffered second and third-degree burns. He remains hospitalized and cannot breathe without a respirator.

Medina was allegedly angry because he had caught Sandoval sleeping in Medina's car on a rainy day in December and warned him not to return to the area, the district attorney said.

Read the Los Angeles Times report here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on February 22, 2010 (boomark / email).