CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A Chula Vista man who assaulted his girlfriend and burned down her house earlier this year will serve 13 years in prison.
35-year-old Jose Germain Rodriguez was sentenced Friday in Chula Vista Superior Court. On Aug. 2, Rodriguez plead guilty to arson, residential burglary and domestic violence. He had faced a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
On the evening of Feb. 21, Rodriguez and his girlfriend, whose name was not released, were attending a party in San Diego when they got into an argument and he assaulted her, Chula Vista police said at the time.
Rodriguez then took her car, drove back to her house in the 1000 block of Monserate Avenue in Chula Vista, and began dousing the inside of the home with gasoline. The girlfriend's adult daughter was asleep inside when Rodriguez arrived, but was able to call 911 before escaping uninjured.
The house was destroyed by the fire. Rodriguez was gone by the time authorities arrived. He was later caught and arrested.
