Woman Sets Roommate On Fire After Spaghetti Tizzy, Tossed Pasta Plate

A Florida woman is facing battery charges for an arrest Wednesday. Allegedly she set her roommate on fire after getting into an argument over spaghetti. Clearwater police investigators say the altercation over pasta involved alcohol and led to the man receiving serious burns over his body.

According to an October 22 Bay News 9 (Tampa) report, police were summoned to the 300 block of Gunn Avenue after receiving a 911 call from a caller about a disturbance and someone at the location being set alight. There, they met with Ines Causevic, a witness and friend, who shared the details of what occurred must moments earlier.

Apparently, a woman, Melissa Dawn Sellers, 33, got into a verbal altercation with her roommate, Carolos Ortiz Jr., 42, over a plate of spaghetti. Causevic said Sellers became enraged after accusing Ortiz of tossing her pasta into the garbage. The witness said the roommates were both consuming alcohol in the early morning hours before the man was set on fire.

Without warning, the Florida woman grabbed nail polish remover and doused the man with the flammable liquid. Next, she used her cigarette lighter and ignited the liquid.

“She was setting little objects on fire, then that turned into pouring nail polish remover all over him, and then all of a sudden, the lighter sparked and he lit on fire.”

The friend tried desperately to douse the flames from the man’s body and even helped him tear off his shirt to lessen the fire’s spread to his flesh. Still, the man suffered horrific injuries from being set on fire by his roommate.

“When he got up, his face was like melting off, it was pink and sore. His lips were burning.”

Paramedics rushed the man to a local hospital in Tampa, where he was listed in critical condition. Doctors said the victim suffered burns to his shoulders, face and chest.

Police say Sellers had already left the scene before they arrived, but she returned later, evidently, having gone to her stepfather’s home a short distance away. The woman was arrested for setting her roommate on fire over the spaghetti incident.

Although reports surfaced early in the investigation that said the woman was charged with attempted murder — due to the nature of the alleged crime — police say she faces aggravated battery charges over the domestic incident.

Neighbors heard about incident and were “sickened” by the details. One resident hailed Ortiz as a “good guy” who was caring and went out of his way to help others. Apparently, after Sellers was evicted from her home, he took her in. Katherine Muds weighed in.

“That’s my friend and I can’t imagine such a horrible thing, because he didn’t deserve that,” said Katherine Muds. “He would never hurt anybody.”

[Image via: Fodors]