Man Sprays Sleeping Child With Bleach, Douses Bedroom With Fuel

Suspect also drove drunk with infant and toddler unsecured in a car, says deputies

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Ormond Beach, FL - An Ormond Beach man is now charged with child abuse and attempted arson he sprayed a 4-year-old with bleach and soaked their bedroom with tiki torch fuel.

And that's before 31-year-old Mack Arline drove drunk with a toddler and an infant unsecured in a car.

The Volusia Sheriff's Office (VSO) say Arline was arrested Saturday (September 11) morning after deputies (VSO) were called to the home on Avenue E in Ormond Beach on a request from the Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD). According to deputies, an officer with the DBPD was flagged down by the mother of three children who showed the officer a clip of Arline pouring fuel around their home and spraying the 4-year-old in the face with bleach. The woman told police that Arline was drunk and threatening to burn down the house and kill their children.

When deputies arrived at the home they found Arline backing out of the driveway with two children in the vehicle. Per a report from VSO, Arline had a 1-month-old baby wearing only a diaper lying on his chest in front of the steering wheel, and a 2-year-old child was in the front passenger seat, unrestrained. The children were taken to safety as deputies detained Arline, who smelled of alcohol and was not completely coherent.

Deputies then checked the home and found a 4-year-old still inside the house, sleeping on the bedroom floor with a Clorox spray bottle near him. An empty bottle of tiki torch fuel was found in another bedroom, which was wet, as was the furniture.

Upon further review of the video provided to law enforcement, deputies watched Arline kick a plastic toy car into the 4-year-old as he slept. After that Arline began spraying him and telling him to wake up while using profanity and a racial slur. When the toy car hit the child, he pulled a blanket over his head to cover his face. Another video showed Arline emptying the bottle of fuel on the bed, furniture, and carpet of the master bedroom.

Deputies also discovered an empty bottle of vodka on the passenger floorboard of his vehicle. The cork for the bottle was found on the driver's floorboard and an empty cup that smelled like liquor was sitting in the driver's cup holder.

VSO said Arline was intoxicated to the point that he had to be picked up and placed in a patrol car before he was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail on charges of aggravated child abuse, child abuse, attempted arson, DUI, and driving with a suspended or revoked license.

A state probation officer who was in the area doing probation checks at the time also advised Arline—who was also on inmate release status for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement—violated his probation on a previous charge of false imprisonment.

Arline remains in jail with no bond as of Sunday (September 12) morning.