On Sunday, March 22, 2015 just before midnight, 41 year old Kevin Francis Dobell was arrested Cochise County Sheriff’s deputies at a residence on North Fort Grant Road in Willcox after callers from the area reported hearing an explosion.
Deputies responded and saw a large fire near a residence and made contact with a man and woman in the yard. The man told the deputies that they were trespassing and he wanted them to leave. The deputies were advised by the woman that they were outside and started a fire in the fire pit when it exploded. The woman said that a 13 year old from the home is the one who started the fire.
Deputies claim that as they were speaking with the woman, the man continued to be loud and told the deputies to leave the area and told three children to get inside of the home.
During the conversation, deputies heard one of the boys ask for medical help because he was in pain. Dobell advised the kids to get into the house and the woman also advised them to go inside while she continued speaking with deputies.
As the deputies were approaching the area of the fire, the 13 year old ran from the house and asked for help. Deputies observed that he had blisters around his mouth, his face was extremely red, his hair was cinged, and his hands were also red and blistered.
Medical personnel responded to the scene and transported the 13 year old to the hospital for treatment of his injuries.
Dobell was arrested for causing injury to his 13 year old son by using gasoline to ignite a fire pit which caused and explosion and burned the child’s face and hands. Dobell was also charged for refusing medical attention for his son and telling him to light the gasoline which lead to the injuring explosion.
Dobell was booked into Willcox Detention Facility where he remains on a $50,000 bond on the following charges:
Aggravated assault a class 6 felony
Child Abuse a class 3 felony
Duty to Report Physical Injury a class 6 felony
Endangerment a class 6 felony
Unlawful Imprisonment a class 6 felony
Obstructing Governmental Operations a class 1 misdemeanor
The investigation is being continued by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.