Prosecutor Seeks 7.5 Years for Tenerife Arson Near Hospital
Prosecutors in Santa Cruz de Tenerife have requested a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence and over 57,000 euros in fines for a repeat offender accused of setting fire to multiple garbage bins and cars in Tenerife's capital, actions that posed a serious risk near a hospital.
The prosecutor's office in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has asked for a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for a man accused of setting fire to several garbage bins in Tenerife's capital in October 2024. He is also being asked to pay 35,500 euros to the city council and 22,000 euros to various insurance companies.
The man had previously been convicted of criminal damage and sentenced to two years and fifteen months in prison. He was also fined, but that fine was never collected because the time limit for doing so had passed. Because of this, prosecutors are requesting that his status as a repeat offender be considered an aggravating circumstance.
Prosecutors accuse him of setting fire to thirty public garbage bins used by the cleaning service, with individual values ranging from 3,000 to 254 euros, as well as several cars parked nearby.
His actions near Hospital Parque in the city center are seen as particularly serious because they put patients, hospital staff, and people passing by at serious risk.
The prosecutor's office states that the fire was just five meters away from where gases like oxygen and nitrogen are stored, and also close to the MRI area, which contains helium. A leak of these gases could have caused toxic fumes.
The defendant reportedly watched the containers burn and the fire being put out. He then changed his clothes in public restrooms and continued to tamper with more bins as he left, though he didn't manage to set them alight. He was eventually arrested by the Local Police.
Firefighters reported that it took them six minutes and 500 liters of water, using two hose lines, to completely extinguish the blaze. The intervention was quick and without incident.