The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of an assault or battery in progress at a Tampa restaurant on Tuesday morning. Deputies arrived at the scene around 8:45 a.m. to find the restaurant filled with smoke and flames, with a propane tank outside the building also on fire.
Deputies spotted Rubiel Maceo Castillo, 53, still inside the restaurant holding two knives and repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapons and come outside. Bodycam video appears to show a deputy yelling, "Drop the knife now. Do it now." Working alongside Hillsborough County Fire Rescue crews, deputies extinguished the fire before taking Castillo into custody.
According to court documents, Castillo allegedly grabbed two knives and charged at several people inside the restaurant before cutting a woman on the wrist when she tried to intervene. He then cut a gas line connected to a grill, grabbed a propane tank, and ignited the fire. Surveillance video released by the sheriff's office appears to show a man carrying a flaming propane tank through the restaurant as flames spread inside the business.
Body camera footage captured deputies confronting the suspect before placing him under arrest and helping extinguish the blaze. Castillo has been charged with first-degree arson of an occupied structure, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal mischief causing more than $1,000 in damage, and other offenses.
While authorities have not publicly identified a motive, investigators believe the incident stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Castillo and his wife.
