Pedro Rojas Jr., a Cuban from Miami, was arrested on February 4 and charged set fire to the rental cars at his own father’s party in Hialeah.
The 24-year-old is charged with second-degree arson, news outlet Local 10 reported.
In surveillance video of the location, police identified Rojas at the scene outside the San Pedro Party Rental at 2285 W. 80th St. on January 16, the day the events occurred.
In the video, Rojas, dressed in a dark hoodie, black shorts and white sandals, is seen carrying a red gas can and approaching two trucks that were parked in front of the store.
Rojas poured gasoline on the hoods of both trucks, then lit a match and threw it into one of the hoods. The trucks burst into flames immediately after the young man left the scene.
The arsonist was identified by his own father from surveillance footage.
The young man had also vandalized his father’s home and vehicles parked in the driveway on New Year’s Day.
Hialeah Police found Rojas at Larkin Community Hospital earlier this month.
In January, shortly after the fire broke out, Pedro Rojas, a Cuban who has owned San Pedro Party Rental for almost a decade, admitted it was very painful to see his work of so many years lost to the fire. The accident left about $100,000 in losses.
“It was very hard to see me getting lost there, but well… Here we fight again. All I can say (the arsonist) is turn yourself in, it will be for the best cause they will catch him anyway. We have the images on the cameras that he accepts what he did and well… he can negotiate turning himself in,” Rojas Sr. said at the time.