Florida man arrested on six attempted murder charges after setting fire in northwest Miami-Dade Walgreens on August 23
MIAMI, FLORIDA: A 46-year-old man was arrested on six attempted murder charges on Wednesday, August 23, for setting a fire in a northwest Miami-Dade Walgreens earlier this week.
According to the authorities, Felix Hidalgo became “belligerent and aggressive” when he arrived to pick up a prescription he thought to be at the store, telling a pharmacy technician “Stop playing with me and you have my prescription.”
Arrest reports from the Miami-Dade Police Department state that the incident took place just after 6 pm on Monday, at the store’s location at 9498 NW Seventh Ave in the county’s Pinewood area. As per records, the suspect's prescription was actually at a store in Miami Beach.
Did Hidalgo inform the pharmacy staffers about his evil motive?
The manager of the pharmacy told Hidalgo that he could not rudely speak to the employees after he continued to talk “aggressively” in Spanish. However, Hidalgo continued and eventually told the staffers that “this place is going to catch on fire” and he hoped “it blows up,” the report states.
After the pharmacy manager requested help in dealing with the perpetrator, the pharmacy technician walked back towards her and found the store’s aisle nine “completely in flames,” police said. Store managers immediately evacuated the building.
“While the fire was taking place, (the technician) stated she observed (Hidalgo) in the makeup aisle stealing items from the store,” police wrote in the report. “She stated to (Hidalgo) that he needed to get out because there was a fire. (He) ran and grab(b)ed a blanket with items inside and fled.”
Did Hidalgo already have an active warrant?
On Wednesday, authorities said business owners waved down a Miami police officer near Northwest 29th Street and 17th Avenue, in the city’s Allapattah neighborhood, to let her know that a man, later identified as Hidalgo, was “picking up rocks and throwing them.”
Police said the suspect already had an active warrant relating to a probation violation. According to court records, he has an extensive history of arrests in Miami-Dade County, reports Local10.
Hidalgo made additional threats in front of the officers
Hidalgo made additional threats in front of officers, including promising to a Miami officer that he would “set the airport on fire” after he left MDPD’s headquarters and telling the investigating MDPD officer many times that he was “going to shoot everyone.”
Hidalgo, who is homeless, was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He faced charges of arson, criminal mischief, and petty theft along with the attempted murder charges. Jail records show that he was being held without bond on the probation violation, that resulted from an armed robbery charge.