Local News in Brief : Santa Ana : D.A. Will Not Charge Uncle of Burned Man
The district attorney’s office will not press charges against a Santa Ana man originally thought to have doused his nephew in gasoline and set him on fire, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
That reversal came amid new and contradictory reports from the nephew, Armando Soriano, 20.
Disputing earlier reports, Soriano has told investigators that he set himself on fire on Thanksgiving Day. He remained in critical condition Tuesday in UCI Medical Center in Orange.
“I don’t see how we can overcome a dying declaration,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Delbert Wright, who is heading the investigation, in an interview on the decision not to press charges against Soriano’s uncle.
Police originally arrested the uncle, 37-year-old Marcial Vivar Castro, on charges of attempted murder after allegations that Vivar had set Soriano on fire after a drunken dispute over rent.
Prosecutor Wright said the case is still officially open. “But unless there’s further investigation that would overcome the difficulties and the conflicts in the case, there won’t be any charges (against Vivar),” he said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
