A contract appliance delivery worker, employed by Best Buy, stands accused of beating an elderly woman using a mallet, dousing her with a toxic chemical, and setting fire to her while inside her Florida home.
According to legal reports, authorities responded to a call from the Colonnades at Glen Oaks community in Boca Raton at approximately 9:15 a.m Monday morning.
Upon arrival, police say they found the 75-year-old elderly woman on the floor of her home, unconscious. She had head injuries, and severe burns to a large portion of her body reported WPTV.
21-year-old Jorge Dupre Lachazo is said to have delivered a washer and dryer to the victim’s home that morning.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, after the washer and dryer were installed, David Gonzalez, Lachazo’s coworker, went outside to make a call. Lachazo remained inside to help the victim with the new appliances.
Gonzalez says he then “heard multiple screams from inside the residence.”
He then returned inside the home to find the victim lying unconscious on the laundry room floor with blood also on the floor nearby.
Gonzalez told police that Lachazo, who “was acting very strange,” then told him he had to leave and fled the scene in the delivery truck.
Legal documents indicate authorities later apprehended Lachazo, who was said to be “very sweaty and was shaking as if he was nervous,” at the 7100 block of W. Glades Road.
Police also said the hair on Lachazo’s legs was burnt at the time of his arrest.
An inspection of the laundry room where the incident is said to have taken place, revealed burn marks, a “strong odor of a chemical,” and “a wooded handled mallet” on top of the washing machine with blood on it.
Police also found a wine bottle on the floor that had long hair and dried blood on it.
In the kitchen, authorities discovered the stove—with all the burners turned on—had been pulled away from the wall. A can of Acetone was also opened on the counter.
Lachazo later admitted to hitting the lady on the head with the mallet and knocking her unconscious.
“(Lachazo) made a physical motion with his hands indicating that he doused (the victim) and room with the chemical agent. He then made a motion with his hands that the chemical spontaneously combusted,” said the arrest report.
Lachazo had allegedly been doing cocaine and smoking marijuana around the time of the incident, the motive, however, remains unclear.
The victim was taken to Delray Medical Center and is currently being treated for multiple skull and facial injuries. She also suffered severe brain bleeding and third-degree burns to her body.
According to AJC.com, the victim is in hospice care and is “in extremely critical and grave condition.”
Lachazo has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, aggravated battery on a person 65 years of age or older, as well as arson causing great bodily harm. He is currently being held without bond.
#BREAKING: Bond denied for delivery man accused of beating elderly woman with mallet, setting her on fire in Boca Raton home https://t.co/rSLMeHoPOh pic.twitter.com/oquHlm0ktI
— WPTV (@WPTV) August 20, 2019
Best Buy has suspended its relationship with JB Home Delivery, and CEO Corie Barry made the following statement:
“One of our customers in the Boca Raton, Florida area was tragically attacked yesterday, suffering extremely serious injuries. We are profoundly sorry and offer our deepest sympathies to our customer and her family.
“Out of respect for them, we have closed our Boca Raton store today. Beyond working with law enforcement in any way we can, we have suspended our relationship with the small, local company that was sub-contracted to deliver to the customer’s home.
“In the hours after we initially learned what happened, we immediately re-visited our delivery and installation programs and, in the coming days, will do two things: 1) ensure all our processes were followed and 2) work with our delivery partners to do anything more we can to help ensure that this type of tragedy will not happen again.
“Additionally, we are hiring an independent security firm to review our existing screening, audit and safety programs and share with us their assessment on how we can improve.
“For more than 20 years, millions of Americans have trusted us to come into their homes and, on days like this, I am fully aware of how precious that trust is and how vital it is that we do everything in our power to earn it. Today, we redouble our efforts to do just that.”
