Gay Man Lied About Being Set On Fire
Police say video evidence shows San Diego man who claimed to be a victim of a hate crime lied about the incident.
The San Diego Police Department is investigating an alleged homophobic attack, claiming that new evidence shows the purported victim, a gay man, assaulted a woman before she set him on fire.
Last week Scott Rowin, 39, claimed to have been set on fire during a homophobic attack. Metro Weekly reached out to San Diego Police for additional details after the story first broke, but the department never responded to multiple requests for comments.
Rowin told San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV that he was set on fire by two people yelling homophobic slurs. But police claim new video evidence shows Rowin lied, and that he attacked a pregnant woman before she set him on fire as an act of self-defense.
At 10:41 p.m. on June 12, police say they received multiple calls about a man attacking a pregnant woman. Before police arrived, the suspect fled the scene, leaving the pregnant woman bleeding and suffering from numerous injuries. She was later transported to a local hospital, where she received treatment for her injuries.
Around an hour later, police received a call from a man who had claimed to be set on fire in a homophobic attack. The man was interviewed by detectives and sent to the hospital for treatment.
“Investigators determined that this man was the suspect who battered the pregnant woman from the earlier incident at 900 6th Avenue,” police said. “Investigators have since determined the pregnant female was responsible for the burn injuries.”
Since this discovery, police gathered security footage showing “the initial physical assault by the man on the pregnant woman and the subsequent use of fire as a weapon by the pregnant woman on the man,” according to a statement released by the San Diego Police Department.
The department also said it believes the altercation between the man and the pregnant woman was an “isolated event” and that there is no “active threat” to the larger San Diego-area community.
The police did not say if Rowin would be officially charged for attacking the pregnant woman. A search of San Diego Superior Court records did not uncover any charges filed against Rowin.
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