Two Arrested in Albuquerque for Burning Homeless Man With Fireworks

Police arrested Joshua Benavidez and Irene Enriquez, both 31, on Wednesday.

He is now being held on a US$100,000 (AU$137,155) bond.

“I just want to say I’m sorry to my family and to my children”, she said.

Two Albuquerque parents have been accused of throwing fireworks at a Native American homeless man from inside an SUV, an attack witnessed by three children and that left the man with serious burn injuries, according to reports.

They told officers how they approached the man who was sleeping and threw pyrotechnics at him as a “prank” to scare him.

‘I feel really bad for the man and his family, ‘ she said.

The couple claimed they turned themselves in when they heard that the man was hospitalized.

Enriquez and Benevidez explained to reporters from KFOR Albuquerque that it was a prank and they were “just trying to scare him”.

Interestingly at the time of the fireworks incident, Benavidez was on probation for aggravated assault on a peace officer and tampering with evidence.

The arrest warrant alleges that Benavidez would not let her, and fled the scene.

Eastern New Mexico University officials say they are struggling to fill vacancies before the fall 2015 semester starts.

Shocking video of the incident shows a distinctive purple Chevy Tahoe, with large rims and modified taillights, pull up to the corner of Quincy and Silver around 8 p.m. the night in question.

“It’s absolutely disgusting”, Albuquerque police spokesman Daren DeAguero told the Albuquerque Journal.

Albequerque Police Joshua Benavidez, 31, is accused of being the one who actually tossed the fireworks, sparking the blaze. Investigators believe someone in the SUV threw a lit firework on the man.

However, neighbors said that they had seen the vehicle just a few days before and that it had been purple before being painted white very recently.