Police studying revenge as motive for arson in Kendall

A Kendall man who helped identify a suspected car burglar on Monday was the victim of an unexpected ordnance on his front porch a day later: A Molotov cocktail tossed from the street that started a fire.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a call at 5:28 a.m. Tuesday about a fire burning at a home at 11400 SW 43rd Lane. When they arrived they quickly extinguished a fire on the home’s front porch that they determined was “arson caused by a Molotov cocktail,” Miami-Dade police said.

No one was home.

A day earlier, police arrested Bryan Aneiros, 23, after callers spotted him breaking into several cars in the same neighborhood. When police arrived they found him hiding in a car. Police recovered more than $5,000 in allegedly stolen property, including computers and golf clubs.

Though police have not determined if the fire was an act of revenge, Billy Franco, who lives in the home set on fire and who called police on Aneiros, told Miami Herald news partner CBS 4 that he believes it was.

Franco, who said he normally would have been home with his 8-year-old son, was in Key West on a construction job when the fire started.

Police, however, warned that the case might not be so cut and dry. They’re investigating the possibility of a link between Aneiros and Franco.

“Detectives are investigating a little bit further,” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Daniel Ferrin.

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Police studying revenge as motive for arson in Kendall."