Two people were injured when a suspect doused them with gas and lit them on fire while they were sitting in a truck in San Bernardino, California (San Bernardino State Attorney’s Office).
A California man could spend the rest of his life in prison after he lit his ex-girlfriend and a man helping her on fire as they sat inside a pickup truck, prosecutors say.
According to the San Bernardino District Attorney’s Office, a jury found 33-year-old Joshua Adam Kaiser guilty of two counts of premeditated attempted murder, arson causing great bodily injury and domestic violence. San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Rasheed M. Alexander recently sentenced Kaiser to 20 years in state prison without parole eligibility, followed by 28 years to life with parole board reviews.
Hospital staff at Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree called cops around 1 a.m. June 19, 2023, when a man and woman showed up to the hospital with severe burns. Both victims survived, but the man suffered burns to 80% of his body while the woman had burns covering the left side of her body. The woman told staff her ex-boyfriend and father of her two children threw gas on them and set them ablaze as they sat in a pickup truck.
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Prosecutors said the male victim ended up spending nearly two weeks in a coma and continues to receive treatment for “severe scarring and increased susceptibility to infection.” Detectives later learned the crime occurred at a rural, five-acre parcel west of State Highway 247 in Johnson Valley. The property has one home and several trailers, RV’s and outbuildings powered by gas generators, prosecutors said.
On the afternoon of June 18, 2023, the man borrowed a truck and headed out to the property to help a friend clean — he did not know anyone at the property well, and did not know Kaiser and his family were living there, but had previously helped the defendant with a motorcycle, prosecutors said.
Kaiser and his mother left the property in the late afternoon to get gas to power the main generator in the house. This is when prosecutors say the man started to suffer a “series of ill-fated misfortunes.” As afternoon fell into night, his phone died. Getting in his truck to leave, he soon realized his vehicle wouldn’t start. The female victim walked out of the home and asked him for a ride, explaining that she and Kaiser had been arguing earlier in the day and she wanted to get off the property.
It was around this time that Kaiser returned to the property with gasoline and some dog food in hand.
“The male victim was initially relieved that someone was there that could possibly help him jump start the truck. Kaiser walked towards the truck and upon seeing his ex-girlfriend said, ‘You’re not going to like what’s going to happen next,’ apparently becoming increasingly angry,” prosecutors wrote.
Kaiser walked to the home and then came back in an “inexplicable rage,” according to prosecutors. He doused both victims with gasoline, lit a match and threw it at them, setting them ablaze while they sat in the truck, according to prosecutors. They were initially trapped before the woman was able to get the passenger side door open. They both dropped to the ground and started rolling around.
“Kaiser walked around to the passenger’s side of the truck and using expletives said ‘Happy Father’s Day!,”” prosecutors wrote. “In a cold, calculated manner he continued throwing gasoline on the male victim. The male victim tried to run away, which further fanned the flames. Subsequently he dropped to the ground again and rolled in the dirt. Mercilessly, Kaiser doused him with gasoline a third time and continued to strike him with matches.”
Eventually, the man got away from Kaiser, who fled the property on his motorcycle. The woman got help and she and the male victim met first responders at a market before they rushed them to the hospital.
Kaiser is now in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
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