Atwater man arrested on suspicion of child abuse, threats

Police in Atwater arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of terrorist threats and child abuse causing serious injury Monday, saying he hit his girlfriend’s son then poured gasoline throughout the family’s house.

According to Sgt. Samuel Joseph, police were called to an apartment in the 100 block of Elberta Avenue on a report of domestic violence. By the time the officer arrived, the woman who had called police had left.

Police found the woman with three of her children, ages 4, 7, and 10. She said she and her boyfriend, Manuel Mulgado, had gotten into an argument. The two went outside, followed by the children. The woman’s 7-year-old son told his mother to call police because Mulgado was scaring him.

Mulgado called the boy an obscenity then slapped him across the face, police said. The boy’s head hit a parked car, leaving a bump.

The three children ran back inside, into their room. Mulgado grabbed a gas can and started pouring gasoline throughout the house, concentrating most of it in the room where the children were, police said. At the time, he was threatening to blow up the house and the apartment.

The woman grabbed her children and left the residence. When police searched the house for the suspect, officers found he also had left.

“The interior of the house smelled strongly of gasoline and an empty gas can without the pour spout attached was located,” Joseph said in a news release.

Paramedics were called to the scene; they treated the 7-year-old before clearing him and the other children medically.

Police issued a warrant for Mulgado’s arrest; he was later found and arrested on the new charges as well as an outstanding warrant from Turlock police. He was booked into jail with bail set at $160,000.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Atwater man arrested on suspicion of child abuse, threats."