mother of Connecticut A boy accused of setting his six-year-old neighbor on fire slammed the burnt boy’s mother after a video showed the incident was not the result of bullying – as previously claimed.
Laura Giacobbe, 45, threatened legal action against the Crankle family and called for the arrest of Maria Rua after Rua said it was Giacobbe’s son, eight-year-old Stefano, who doused a ball in gasoline, setting it on fire. Dee and Dominic’s six kicked in. , Face.
‘I want him to be arrested because I don’t think it’s fair. It’s defamation of character,’ Giacobe said New York Post, ‘He defames my family.
‘He put my son in hell. He put me in hell. I want him to be arrested for making false statements.
backyard surveillance footage Shows the events of April 24, when Dominic suffered second and third degree burns while playing with other children in Bridgeport, including Stefano Giacobbe and his brother, Lorenzo, 11.
The video was released after police concluded there was no wrongdoing in the case, and found a group of boys dousing a soccer ball with gasoline, setting it on fire, and then kicking it around the yard. is shown.
Laura Giacobe (right) threatens legal action against the Crankle family and calls for the arrest of Maria Rua (along with her son) after Rua claims Giacobbe’s son shot Dominic with a burning ball. The latter caused widespread burning.
The video shows a group of boys, including Dominic, dousing a soccer ball with petrol, setting it on fire, and then kicking it around the yard in April.
Dominic is soon seen catching fire with the eyes of the camera. His mother, Rua, claimed that it was Giacobe’s children, Stefano, 8, and Lorenzo, 11, who caused the incident.
Giacobbe denied claims that his sons bullied Dominic, saying that his family was ostracized by the allegations made by Rua.
Rua, who had earlier claimed in media interviews that her son was deliberately set on fire by neighborhood miscreants, told DailyMail.com last month that he ran home shouting ‘Mom, they set me on fire.’
The mother and other family members claimed that the other boys set a gasoline-soaked ball on fire and threw it at Dominic’s face – a scene not shown in the newly released video.
Rua also claimed that her son was terrorized by Stefano and Lorenzo for over a year without naming the children.
‘These kids are bullying and physically abusive. They even threatened me that they would set me on fire. They’re angry kids and they’re going to hurt somebody,’ she said at the time.
The case garnered national attention, and a GoFundMe page for Dominic’s — which prominently reported the family’s bullying claims — raised more than $500,000.
There was also a parade of first responders in honor of Dominic after his recovery in the hospital, and the young boy was invited to the field before a New York Yankees game.
Giacobbe said it was not fair to praise Rua and her family while her boys were criticized for the incident.
“Her kid had to go to Yankee Stadium while my kid sat inside in fear of all the statements made against her,” she told the Post.
Giacobe also claimed that Rua was supposed to see the boys on the day of the incident, and that her eldest son, Lorenzo, had actually tried to save Dominic.
,[Lorenzo] took his bare hands and put out the fire with his face, otherwise he would have been running upwards with fire on his face because [Rua] Never came down,’ said Giacobe.
‘I trusted her that she would be watching those kids.’
Rua has denied the claims and told the Post that Giacobbe was a “liar” and a “narcissist”, alleging that the video his neighbor had released had been altered.
Edited video. It’s all edited. It took a month and a half to get out. Bridgeport Police have actual footage of that day or they’re about to do this,’ she said.
Video shows Lorenzo trying to douse the flames as Giacobe insists that his sons try to help
Giacobe (above his family) released the video after accusing his sons of bullying Dominic, a charge that now appears to be false as police concluded there was no wrongdoing in the case.
Dominic is recovering in the hospital surrounded by all his favorite stuffed animals
Dominic taking back a piggy bank while waving hello to his father, Aaron Crankle
Giacobe stands by the video and says it proves the bullying claims were a fabricated one.
She also criticized Rua for setting up GoFundMe, which claimed her son was bullying Dominic, calling it ‘sick’.
Giacobbe told the Post, ‘Maria, give money back to families whose children are very sick, who need money. ‘Give it to the burn unit. I mean, enough!’
‘He lied. It was a lie. He used it… He used his child to get that money.’
Lawyers for Giacobe’s family say they are also considering legal action, as the bullying claims sparked a frenzy of threats from an online mob.
‘The police department had to sit in front of the house overnight to make sure nothing happens. It was said that the house would be set on fire, they were going to drag my son and me across the street and let us suffer in pain,’ Giacobbe said.
However, Dominic’s family maintains that their information was based on what the boy told them about the incident, adding that key moments of the incident are not visible in the video.
Photos of Dominic posted from the hospital this week show he is recovering from the incident, with some red marks on his forehead.
Neighboring mother Giacobe (with her son’s father above) says the video proves the bullying claims were a fabricated
Photos show that Dominic has recovered from the terrible ordeal
Dominic, who loves to be outside, is snapped smiling after taking a big catch in a photo taken a few days before a serious burn