Video surveillance shows two men entering a Mays Landing home with lighter fluid just a minute before the man they allegedly set on fire comes running out engulfed in flames, according to court records.
David Sult and Brandon Perez are charged with aggravated assault, aggravated arson and conspiracy in the case that left 27-year-old Raymond Mullen severely burned.
Mullen said he went to Sult’s home because the two had been friends. But after falling asleep on Sult’s couch, Mullen awoke to find himself on fire.
Mullen eventually was able to drive to his mother’s home in Brigantine, and is still suffering from constant pain and limited movement, and faces more surgeries.
Sult allowed police to download his video surveillance, which shows him hand Perez something that Perez would later admit was a bottle of lighter fluid.
The two go inside the home and, about a minute later, Mullen comes running out “completely engulfed in flames,” Officer Larry Fernan wrote in the affidavit of probable cause.
During questioning, Perez admitted that he squirted Mullen with lighter fluid and then Sult used a lighter to ignite him.
There is no indication as to why the men would have attacked Mullen.
Sult told people to say the fire was accidentally started by an electronic smoking device, Perez told the investigator.
Perez, 23, was arrested March 25. Sult, 24, was arrested April 1.
Both were released following detention hearings.
Mullen has started a GoFundMe page to help offset the medical costs and the fact that his mother is out of work to be his caretaker.
