‘Light it up like Christmas,’ Las Vegas man accused of throwing Molotov cocktail at ex-girlfriend’s apartment
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas man is accused of violating a protection order against his ex-girlfriend and telling her he was going to “light it up like Christmas” before allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at her apartment, according to an arrest report.
On Saturday, Oct. 28, at around 7 a.m., officers with the Metropolitan Police Department were called to an apartment complex after a report of “malicious destruction of property.”
A witness to the incident told dispatch that she heard a noise of glass breaking and saw a man standing in front of her neighbor’s apartment “throwing a large rock,” according to the report.
A second person called to report that a man threw a rock through his window and was seen running away from the building, the report stated. Arriving officers found a large rock sitting on the ledge of a broken window.
The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Antonio Jackson.
Additionally, officers found what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail, an improvised explosive device in a glass bottle with a white tube sock hanging from the neck of the bottle. Police said the device smelled like a mix of gasoline and rubbing alcohol.
The report stated the toe portion of the sock was burnt and ignited at one point. The owner of the apartment told police it was thrown toward the balcony.
He told police that there was “ongoing harassment” from Jackson, including a previous incident involving the other person who lived in the apartment where Jackson was the suspect, according to the report.
The owner told police that he and the woman he lived with, identified as the ex-girlfriend of Jackson, were woken up at around 6:50 a.m. by “crashing, banging, and glass breaking,” the report stated.
He went out onto his balcony and saw Antonio running from the scene. While on the balcony, he saw several large rocks and the Molotov cocktail on the balcony floor.
Police said the cocktail was previously lit and believed the flame went out when it was thrown toward the balcony. Molotov cocktails are “inherently dangerous” and can only be disposed of by specially trained officers or firefighters, the report stated.
The victim told police that Jackson was her ex-boyfriend of three years. She received text messages from him “every day.” She told police that there was an active protection order against Jackson, the report stated.
Jackson texted the victim around 4:30 that morning saying she should “not go to sleep” because he did “not want to scare her when the glass broke.”
“Babe come outside that [expletive] about to light up like Christmas,” a text message sent from Jackson to the victim minutes before the 9-1-1 call from the neighbor read.
She told police that Jackson was texting her from six different telephone numbers.
The messages from Jackson to the victim said multiple times that he had a “cocktail for them.” He was messaging her for several days that he would “bring a cocktail to the residence if she did not leave with him,” the report stated.
Police said Jackson posed a “life-threatening danger” to both the victim and the owner of the apartment and that his actions appeared to be “escalating to a dangerous level,” based on the text messages.
A neighbor told police that she heard glass breaking and loud thuds on Saturday morning. She said she saw the owner of the apartment on the balcony and Jackson on the ground arguing while the two threw “large rocks” at each other, until Jackson ran away, according to the report.
The report stated that Jackson was arrested for domestic battery against the victim in September and was served a temporary protection order on Sept. 7 that was set to expire on Jan. 4.
Two weeks before the incident on Oct. 28, the victim “unintentionally” contacted Jackson at an unrelated apartment complex. During that meeting, Jackson was “extremely aggressive with the victim, demanding that she stay with him and that they should “be back together in a dating relationship,” the report stated.
Jackson was arrested at around 5:30 p.m. after he was seen in the 4200 block of South Valley View Boulevard.
While being interviewed by police, Jackson said that he saw the victim in person approximately two times in the past month. He told police that he believed the temporary protection order against him was no longer in effect because his domestic battery case was dropped, the report stated.
Jackson admitted to police he sent messages to the victim and threw rocks at the apartment window that morning, but denied bringing a Molotov cocktail, lighting it, or throwing it at the apartment.
When asked why the texts stated he was “bringing a cocktail” and “lighting it up like Christmas,” Jackson stated that the victim “used his words against him” and made the cocktail with the owner of the apartment.
Jackson faces the following charges.
Possession of an explosive device
Possession of an explosive device in a public or private area
Communicating a bomb threat
Disregard for the safety of a person or property
Destroying property of another, $250 to $5K
Violating a domestic violence temporary protection order
He was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on a $50,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 14. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
He entered a plea of not guilty on Oct. 31.
For a list of local and state resources for domestic violence and abuse victims, visit this link.
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