- May 2, 2024
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A 31-year-old man was arrested on Saturday, Sept. 11, on child abuse and attempted arson charges after Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported he abused a sleeping 4-year-old boy, sprayed him in the face with bleach, soaked a bedroom of the home in tiki torch fuel and drove drunk with an infant and toddler unsecured in his car.
According to VCSO, deputies responded to Mack Arline's home on Avenue E near the Ormond Beach city limits after the child's mother flagged down a Daytona Beach Police officer and showed the officer a video of the abuse. The mother said Arline "was heavily intoxicated and threatening to burn down the house and kill their children," the press release states.
Once deputies arrived at the scene, they found Arline who was backing out of the driveway with two children in his car. An 11-month-old baby wearing only a diaper was on his chest in front of the steering wheel and a 2-year-old child was sitting unrestrained in the front passenger seat. Both children were taken to safety as deputies detained Arline, who VCSO reports smelled of alcohol and was not "completely coherent."
The 4-year-old boy was still inside the house, sleeping on the floor of one of the bedrooms. A Clorox spray bottle was near him. Deputies also found an empty bottle of tiki torch fuel on a bed in another bedroom. The furniture was wet.
In the video provided to law enforcement, Arline was seen kicking a plastic toy car into the boy as he slept, and then spraying him with bleach. He told him to wake up while using profanity and a racial slur, deputies report. A second video showed Arline emptying the tiki torch fuel on the bed, furniture and carpet of the master bedroom.
He was taken to jail.
Deputies report that Arline was also on inmate release status for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement. On Sunday, Sept. 12, he remained held in jail without bond.
