Woman Ends Argument by Setting Boyfriend Ablaze, Cops Say

A 33-year-old Clearwater woman faces charges after police say she doused her boyfriend with nail polish remover and set him on fire.

The incident unfolded around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when Melissa Dawn Sellers and boyfriend Carlos Ortiz Jr., 42, got into an argument at 310 Gunn Ave. The two, police spokesman Rob Shaw wrote in an email to media, had been drinking.

“Sellers doused the upper body of Ortiz with nail polish remover and then ignited him with either a lighter or burnt cigarette,” Shaw said.

Ortiz was taken to Tampa General Hospital in critical condition with burns to his face, shoulders and chest.

Sellers left the home before police arrived, but returned later and was arrested.

Sellers remained at Clearwater Police headquarters Tuesday morning and was expected to be booked into the Pinellas County Jail later in the day on aggravated battery charges. She has been arrested in Pinellas one other time, jail records indicate. In 2008, the sheriff’s office charged her with misdemeanor battery.

It is unclear what the argument was about.

Photo Credit: Melissa Dawn Sellers/Pinellas County Jail

See Also:

• 500-Pound Man Causes Big Problem for Florida Cops
• Landlord Took Peeping Tom Status to Next Level, Cops Say
• Man’s ’Horseplay’ Lands Him in Jail
• Pistol Packing Mom Goes to Jail for Shooting Venomous Snake
• Serial Toilet Thief Flushed Out by Police