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12-31-2009, 12:53 AM
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CLEARWATER — An 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend tried to set the girl's mother on fire as she slept in her bed early Tuesday, police said.
Nancy Broadhead, who turns 48 on Wednesday, was hospitalized with serious but not life threatening injuries after police said her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend, Jack Ault, poured gasoline on the mom's bedroom floor and bed as she slept in it.
"The 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend plotted to basically set the mom on fire and leave her to die," said Clearwater police spokeswoman Beth Watts.
The two then fled in the mother's Ford Focus.
Broadhead woke up when a smoke alarm went off. She was able to escape, but sustained serious burns and smoke inhalation, authorities said.
Rescuers arrived at 1580 Huntington Lane about 1:15 a.m. to find the single-family home in flames. Police said the home was extensively damaged and is now uninhabitable.
Watts said a preliminary investigation shows the motive appears to be "your typical teenage angst."
"It escalated yesterday when (the mom) confronted the daughter about stealing some of her cigarettes," Watts said.
A MySpace page attributed to a 15-year-old Jack Ault of Clearwater includes one last posting entered just after 2 a.m. Monday, about 24 hours before the fire.
His message said he and the 11-year-old "are back together.'' He lists his mood as "in Love." His nickname is "$$MONEY MANN$$".
Ault already has been arrested five times, starting with a battery arrest when he was 8. Between October and November, he was arrested twice within one week, including for two domestic battery charges and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Broadhead was taken to Morton Plant Hospital and later transferred to the Tampa General Hospital burn unit, police said. A hospital spokeswoman at 2:30 p.m. said Broadhead's condition had been upgraded to fair. She declined to speak with reporters.
Broadhead also has two sons, who were not home last night, Watts said.
Broadhead has been arrested nine times and convicted of child neglect, driving under the influence, indecent exposure and resisting an officer. In 2005, she was arrested for child abuse and battery, though the charges were dropped.
At some point today, the daughter returned to the home and agreed to go to police headquarters for questioning, Watts said.
At that point, "The whole plot started to unravel," Watts said.
Ault was taken into custody at a friend's house.
Both were charged with attempted murder and arson. Ault will also be charged with grand theft for stealing the mother's car.
Ault will be taken to the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center. The girl was detained under the Baker Act for psychiatric assessment after making statements that led detectives to believe she may try to harm herself, Watts said.
Watts declined to discuss whether the children admitted the crime to police.
"Keep in mind we're still working it," Watts said Tuesday afternoon. "We're still in the process of doing interviews."
Both families have extensive case records with the Florida Department of Children and Families, said spokeswoman Erin Gillespie.
Case workers have responded to calls for both families at least once every year since 1998 for the Broadheads and 2000 for the Aults. The details of those cases are not public record unless granted through a court petition.
There are no open DCF cases with either family, Gillespie said.
Broadhead's vehicle was recovered in a church parking lot at 1910 Douglas Ave. in Clearwater. Police also found some of the mom's credit cards in her car.
Ault's mother, Shannon Mastrangelo, answered the door at her home, but declined to answer questions. "My son was just arrested. . . . I don't have time for anything."
At Broadhead's house, work crews were boarding up windows after the fire.
A neighbor said he and his wife were awoken after midnight by "screaming like when someone's desperate."
The neighbor, Louie Otero, and his wife, Angela, saw neighbors frantically knocking on doors and windows of the house to help.
"I've seen her with her mom; they go out they come back. It didn't look like they had any issues," he said.
Another neighbor, Mike Jackson, whose back yard abuts Broadhead's back yard, said his son Mikey, 10, used to play with the girl until this school year when she started attending Dunedin Middle School
She "is a nice girl, just in need of guidance," he said. "She joined the middle school crowd and slid away from us."
Jackson, 33, who has lived in the neighborhood eight years, said the girl had kind of bounced around recently.
http://www.wral.com/golo/blogpost/6706500/
CLEARWATER — An 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend tried to set the girl's mother on fire as she slept in her bed early Tuesday, police said.
Nancy Broadhead, who turns 48 on Wednesday, was hospitalized with serious but not life threatening injuries after police said her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend, Jack Ault, poured gasoline on the mom's bedroom floor and bed as she slept in it.
"The 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend plotted to basically set the mom on fire and leave her to die," said Clearwater police spokeswoman Beth Watts.
The two then fled in the mother's Ford Focus.
Broadhead woke up when a smoke alarm went off. She was able to escape, but sustained serious burns and smoke inhalation, authorities said.
Rescuers arrived at 1580 Huntington Lane about 1:15 a.m. to find the single-family home in flames. Police said the home was extensively damaged and is now uninhabitable.
Watts said a preliminary investigation shows the motive appears to be "your typical teenage angst."
"It escalated yesterday when (the mom) confronted the daughter about stealing some of her cigarettes," Watts said.
A MySpace page attributed to a 15-year-old Jack Ault of Clearwater includes one last posting entered just after 2 a.m. Monday, about 24 hours before the fire.
His message said he and the 11-year-old "are back together.'' He lists his mood as "in Love." His nickname is "$$MONEY MANN$$".
Ault already has been arrested five times, starting with a battery arrest when he was 8. Between October and November, he was arrested twice within one week, including for two domestic battery charges and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Broadhead was taken to Morton Plant Hospital and later transferred to the Tampa General Hospital burn unit, police said. A hospital spokeswoman at 2:30 p.m. said Broadhead's condition had been upgraded to fair. She declined to speak with reporters.
Broadhead also has two sons, who were not home last night, Watts said.
Broadhead has been arrested nine times and convicted of child neglect, driving under the influence, indecent exposure and resisting an officer. In 2005, she was arrested for child abuse and battery, though the charges were dropped.
At some point today, the daughter returned to the home and agreed to go to police headquarters for questioning, Watts said.
At that point, "The whole plot started to unravel," Watts said.
Ault was taken into custody at a friend's house.
Both were charged with attempted murder and arson. Ault will also be charged with grand theft for stealing the mother's car.
Ault will be taken to the Pinellas County Juvenile Assessment Center. The girl was detained under the Baker Act for psychiatric assessment after making statements that led detectives to believe she may try to harm herself, Watts said.
Watts declined to discuss whether the children admitted the crime to police.
"Keep in mind we're still working it," Watts said Tuesday afternoon. "We're still in the process of doing interviews."
Both families have extensive case records with the Florida Department of Children and Families, said spokeswoman Erin Gillespie.
Case workers have responded to calls for both families at least once every year since 1998 for the Broadheads and 2000 for the Aults. The details of those cases are not public record unless granted through a court petition.
There are no open DCF cases with either family, Gillespie said.
Broadhead's vehicle was recovered in a church parking lot at 1910 Douglas Ave. in Clearwater. Police also found some of the mom's credit cards in her car.
Ault's mother, Shannon Mastrangelo, answered the door at her home, but declined to answer questions. "My son was just arrested. . . . I don't have time for anything."
At Broadhead's house, work crews were boarding up windows after the fire.
A neighbor said he and his wife were awoken after midnight by "screaming like when someone's desperate."
The neighbor, Louie Otero, and his wife, Angela, saw neighbors frantically knocking on doors and windows of the house to help.
"I've seen her with her mom; they go out they come back. It didn't look like they had any issues," he said.
Another neighbor, Mike Jackson, whose back yard abuts Broadhead's back yard, said his son Mikey, 10, used to play with the girl until this school year when she started attending Dunedin Middle School
She "is a nice girl, just in need of guidance," he said. "She joined the middle school crowd and slid away from us."
Jackson, 33, who has lived in the neighborhood eight years, said the girl had kind of bounced around recently.
http://www.wral.com/golo/blogpost/6706500/