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Naomie Breton, back at her Lantana, Fla., homes talks about her ordeal of being set ablaze.
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - A woman who was set on fire at a gas station says she's being victimized again, this time by hundreds of dollars in car towing fees levied by the state of Florida.
Naomie Breton, 34, has to pay $340 for having her car towed from the gas station where police say the father of her son set her on fire Monday, television station WPBF of Palm Beach, Fla., reported.
"I think it's a disgrace," Breton told WPBF. "It's not like I had a choice of where my car went to. I was on fire. So therefore, my car is here now and I have to pay you to get what's mine back? That's not right."
Adding insult to injury, Breton also is on the hook for the $363 towing bill -- plus the $25-a-day late fee -- owed by the man accused of attacking her, Roosevelt Mondesir, WPBF reported.
Both his and her names are on the car. Mondesir, 52, is behind bars at the Palm Beach County Jail, being held without bail on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.
Boynton Beach police said they responded to a 7-Eleven at 7088 Lawrence Road and found Breton with severe burns to her face and body, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by NBCMiami.com. Parts of her shirt were still on fire on the ground, it said.
Store surveillance video showed the woman running into the convenience store, screaming as she tried to shut the front door. She could be heard telling a man to leave her alone, and then a man pulls her out of the store. Moments later she ran by outside ablaze.
Breton had driven to the gas station in her Mercedes to meet Mondesir for their "time-sharing exchange" of their 4-year-old son, for whom they share custody, the affidavit said. As she waited at the gas pumps in her car, Mondesir arrived in a Jaguar and Breton realized her son was not in the car, the affidavit said. She wanted to get back in her car to leave, but he got out of his car with a red gas can and began dousing her body and car with gasoline, according to the report.
Breton was burned over 12 percent of her body and was released Tuesday from Delray Medical Center. Breton told the Palm Beach Post from her Lantana, Fla., home that she wouldn't have been attacked if Palm Beach County Judge Thomas Barkdyll had granted her a restraining order in late May.
“They said there wasn’t enough physical evidence,” the single mother of three told the Post.
She told the Post that she and Mondesir had been together for eight years but that he became verbally abusive and violent after she did not give him a definite answer to a Valentine’s Day marriage proposal.
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Every time you think you've heard it all, you read another horrific story. This poor woman! While I understand that the car needed to be towed, I don't understand why she should be responsible for the fees. The perpetrator of the fine caused the towing, ultimately, and he should be the one towing. It seems to me that insanity is reaching new heights...both in people's minds and in the laws that govern us. I hope this guy never sees the light of day again and that the woman heals quickly.
Mercedes and a Jag!!!! Along with the food stamps and the assisted housing!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!
chester...get a grip...stop being so hateful...pathetic.
Chester, you can buy a 200C new for around $20,000 and a used one for a couple of thousands. The same goes for the Jaguar.
They are obamas people; the HMIC will have the taxpayers pick up that cost, and replace both cars!
what make you think she' on welfare because she drive a nice car and you don't. i bet you are white trash living in a trailer park.
So caddies are out now???
Judge Thomas Barkdyll should be smacked up side his effen head. The man who set her ablaze should be found guilty and killed by the state. Those that towed her car should be told the story and given the opportunity to drop all costs associated with the tow and the storage - if they refuse to do the right thing, they need to be knee capped and anyone else involved in making this poor woman's life the least bit difficult as a result of this situation needs punched in the nose! I would have suggested the judge needs punched in the nose or worse, but our great nation would, no doubt, have me arrested for threatening and ahole - I mean a judge!
What does it matter what types of cars they drove??? What was the point??? To show that if they can afford a Mercedes and a Jaguar, then they can pay the fine??? What the hell??? All that matters is that she should NOT have to pay that fine. I am just a disgusted Florida resident. I may be stuck here now, but I promise one thing, I will NOT be retiring in Florida! THAT is for sure!
It's the state of Florida, what do you expect. WTH.
He will plead insanity and probably get probation. This is same, Let's see what the Judge says now.
Why is the courts doing this?? I'm going through this. My childs father has been verbally abusing me since she was born. This guy threatens me with guns. constantly follows me. Has his family does it too. Mostly the mother. The most recent is he followed me over 200 miles ... I was having surgery and some how he snuck in my room while I was unconcious to lay a card on my feet and a balloon talking about my burdens and basically glad this has happened to me and that he told me so.. The moment I got home he was hiding behind my bushes watching my house. my friend caught him and I called the police. He even follows my best friend around he knows I go to church with her and he sits out there and this last time he had a female freind with him and they were just laughing at my friend I wasnt there. The next day my best friends car was blown up. I know who did it. I've tried everything I could to get a restraining order and they wont give me one. Ive dealt with 2 yrs of pure hell. He was upset 2 months ago and my daughters arm was pulled out of socket and he took her to the hospital and changed her name so I wouldnt find out. I've spent 10,000 dollors trying to get help so far and no judge will help me and I dont know why. I'm literally sick and tired and just want some protection so it will stop and before something really bad happens . My boys are scared also. He has even went to my childrens( not his kids) school when he lives on the other side of town and I dont know why he does it.. Still no one will hear me out.
Is there somewhere we can send a donation to help this victim get back her vehicle?
I think the Sun is too hot there, It cooks their Brains.
IS THERE ONE SANE PERSON IN THAT DAMN STATE!!!!!!!! Everyone in Florida from the Governor on down is just sooooo "stuck on stupid" and are just evil. I remember a time when people were saying about the uneducated residents of Mississippi or Louisiana, but Florida has taken that title to a level of ridiculous proportions. Everyday the news is reporting the stupidity of the powers that be and some of the residents in Florida and it's a different city everyday. This situation happened on video and this gas station and the towing company knows this and instead of them helping this women by at least getting her car back to her, they are all going to find a way to get money out of her. I hope the people will BOYCOTT that gas station and BOYCOTT that towing company, because FLORIDA and their laws, rules, and their common sense is absolutely ridiculous!!!
Hey Chester....Why do you think she's on welfare because she drives a Mercedes. I'm a black woman and i drive a 2010 Jaguar and i work every day I'm a RN if you don't know what RN means Register Nurse. That's what's wrong with you white folks and i don't live in a trailer i bet you do, white trash.
First, I would like to say that I have much compassion for the woman who was burned, I suffered second and third degree burns over 15 percent of my body, it was extremely painful, time consuming, scarring and traumatic. I caused my burns, I'm sure that it is all the more painful being caused by a perpetrator. That man deserves to be put away for life, for he clearly has no regard for life. But getting on with the subject, that being the bill: The car was towed, and there is a bill. someone needs to pay the bill, usually the towing is done by private companies, and people are in the business to make money. I do feel that a victim's compensation fund should foot the bill. I imagine that this woman needs to confirm and authorize the bill to be paid by that fund. She has to take action for it to be effected. She sould not be dunned for the money, not be pestered. She needs to take action, for it will not automatically be taken care of. I was a resident in Lantana for 8 years, and had a few instances where I dealt with the police. a small accident where I was at fault, my car was stolen once and burned....( I had to pay for storage and tow...the company covered it with the stipulation that they could keep the "carcass"!) and an expired registration sticker. I must say that I was always treated respectfully, courteously and understandingly. I will also say, I have heard stories and seen instances where people weren't treated in a like manner. Unfortunately, it usually happened with minorities, or when someone was drunk driving or breaking the law. No one is perfect, even the police. I want to believe that someone wasn't thinking or didn't realize this was due to an act of violence on the driver. In any event, the woman has to make the calls, etc. to have the bill paid by victim's compensation fund. It doesn't happen on it's own. I also hope it was due to a mistake that she is being persued for the bill. This would be a good time for the community and friends of the woman to see that it is rectified. And again, before I go on condemning the tower and police for being insensitive, hope it was an error. I respectfully pray that this woman has a speedy recovery and isnt scarred too badly, indide and out.
If she's not liable for the cost of towing, who is? He can't pay it from jail charged with attempted 1st degree murder. The taxpayers certainly aren't liable for the bill. The two vehicles involved are a Mercedes and a Jaguar. Shut up and pay the bill. I'm sick of people having bad things in life happen to them and want someone, anyone, to pay them for it.
Patriotic Girl.... If these people were white you would never ask that question.
I was at the stop light and this white guy pull up beside me driving a brand new Mercedes with shining wheels. I bet he lives with his white girl friend in a trashy trailer park and she gets food stamps. You know there are more white people on welfare than blacks and that is a fact.
Percentage wise that is NOT a fact.
And anybody that owns a Jag is a fool,they are a POS.
How do you know I am white??I could be anything..Who says I wouldn't question about anyone that is driving a Jag and a Mercedes?? I do not live in a trailer park and I am educated..After living in Georgia and Alabama,the only ones driving these kind of cars are questionable because it always went back to breaking the law and more..Thanks for the email sent to me telling me that, whoever you are, is sooo rich that she owns expensive cars and so does her children and their mates,etc..They are blessed!! I lived down south long enough to see the hand writing on the wall working with the Human Resource Department in one Alabama county..So,please do not preach to me..
Looks like someone stomped across the bridge and woke up the trolls. For all of those suffering from cranial rectal inversion, the state of Florida does not tow cars and it is standard proceedure for the police to remove motor vehicles from a crime scene. If they had not ordered the tow the business would have had it towed and the tow fees would still be the same. Think about it, if you can.
She is a victim and the in my opinion the police acted in a shameful manner. The cars should've been towed and all fees forgotten, or paid for by the state. Btw the judge , or whoever, who didn't grant the Restraining Order should be removed from their duties.
only in Florida can stupid shine so bright just like their sun shine ...what a back water state ..where the perp goes free and the victim gets victimized ..is there no way to sink FLORIDA ...that state does not care about people ...
Excuse me - did I miss something? She drives up un her MERCEDES...and he drives up in his JAGUAR....and we're supposed to give a %^*&* that she (and he - joint and several liability) have to pay to haul the cars away? Doesn't sound like they are hurting for money. What would be better - the citizens of Florida (suffereing one of the worst unemployment rates in the country) pay to have her MERCEDES and his JAGUAR towed? Give me a break - not only should they pay BUT he should pay the cost of his incarceration too! Whiny rich people - so sick of THAT!
Paying the bill for undeserved towing is not just a Florida issue, it's nation wide revenue scam. My car was parked on my property in Nebraska (under a tarp), a business was broken into across the alley, my car on my property was towed because I had an out of county plate on it, legally registered, BTW I was a legal resident of the county the vehicle was registered in.
Had to pay the tow, the impound fee, my car was trashed on the inside by either the tow truck company and/or the police, they left a window partially open so my car was snowed in (thank you very much for doing this to a collector car); all I got was an insincere apology.
It's not just a Florida problem, it's a revenue scam, but you have to pay; life is not always fair.
A Jaguar use to be an "unattainable" car. I wanted one. It represented class, wealth, achievement and exclusivity. So many folks have them now and in all colors. If a Jaguar isn't black or maybe silver, for me, it just isn't a Jag. Forrest green, candy apple red and any other shade other than black is a crime for such a beautiful car.
I feel bad for the lady. I feel bad for her little boy. Sad.
Mamm,
You know there are people around you who care and will help. Hope your recovery is swift and his prison term is severe...