L.A. County sheriff’s deputy accused of lighting companion’s hair on fire

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with lighting his live-in companion’s hair on fire during a domestic dispute, prosecutors said.

Deputy Alejandro Flores is expected to appear in court Tuesday on multiple charges of domestic battery, aggravated assault, dissuading a witness, criminal threats, false imprisonment and assault likely to produce great bodily harm, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said his live-in companion suffered months of abuse, but it finally came to a head in June, when he held her head over the stove and set her hair on fire.

Flores has been “relieved of duty” and placed on administrative leave, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Deputy Amber Smith.

He has been employed with the department for more than seven years and worked in the Court Services/Transit Bureau, she said.

Flores was arrested June 30 after Buena Park police received reports of the abuse from the woman’s family, district attorney spokeswoman Roxi Fyad said. He has been released on $50,000 bail.

The woman had a romantic relationship with Flores. They lived together with a child in Buena Park, prosecutors said.

Flores is accused of arguing with the woman over the child’s pacifier on June 28 and hitting her inside their home, according to the district attorney’s office. He then dragged her into the kitchen and held her over the stove as he turned on the gas burner, prosecutors said.

Her hair caught on fire and was extinguished.

Flores, prosecutors said, turned up the volume on the TV to drown out her screams. He hit her, took her phone away and threatened her with violence if she called police, prosecutors said.

At some point during the attack, prosecutors said he retrieved his off-duty weapon from a bedroom and threatened to hurt her if she tried to leave their home.

The next day, when Flores went to work, she and the child escaped and sought the help from family members.

If convicted, Flores faces up to 25 years and eight months in prison.

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