An employee fired from a Miami furniture business is facing arson and other charges after police said he returned and set it on fire.
Yolexy Medina, 43, was arrested Wednesday on first-degree arson and burglary of an unoccupied structure charges, according to an arrest report.
The alleged incident happened at Grafton Furniture at 3401 Northwest 71st Street around 4 a.m. on May 14. The business is a large warehouse where furniture is designed and manufactured.
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According to an arrest report, the owner of the business said Medina worked for him as a carpenter but was fired in April when he stopped showing up to work and had an affair with a female employee during business hours.
The owner said Medina had been allowed to live at the business when he worked there and had a key to the business but that arrangement ended when he was fired, the report said.
On May 13, the owner said he had a text message exchange with Medina, who said he needed a folder he left in an office, the report said.
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When the owner told Medina he couldn't retrieve the folder, the two got into an argument and Medina said he would call the police if the owner didn't give him the folder, and the owner told him to go ahead, the report said.
The next day the owner, who works and lives at a neighboring business, was woken up by the smell of smoke. He walked outside and saw huge plumes of smoke bellowing out of the furniture business and called 911.
After the fire was extinguished, investigators discovered four separate intentional fires had been set in the business, including one set in an office, one set on a couch, one set in the carpentry work area and one set on the passenger seat of a transport delivery van, the report said.
The business suffered upwards of $1 million in fire and smoke damage, according to the report.
Surveillance cameras showed the arson suspect using a blanket to cover his head and body to hide himself from the cameras and to cover barb wire while climbing the fence to the business, the report said.
One camera captured Medina in the business carrying the folder and a bottle, but Medina denied any involvement in the fire, the report said.
Medina was booked into jail where he remained held on $55,000 bond Thursday, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
