On June 22nd, 2024, officers from the
Round Lake Beach Police Department in
Illinois respond to a report of a
vehicle fire at a house. An immediate
investigation begins when officers ask
the 911 caller, who also happens to be
the neighbor, what happened. Yeah. So,
let me let me recap. So, you So, you're
in your garage. Mhm. You were trying to
get a hold of Jose cuz you wanted to
hook up with him. Yes. And then there
was no answer, no nothing. And then all
of a sudden, you heard a boom. And
that's when I that's when I came outside
and I started calling him again. came
outside. You're like, "What's that boom?
What's that boom?" Yeah. Can we Can we
see that video that you have? Oh, yeah.
It's inside the house. Can we go? Yeah.
Thank you.
Can I see it?
Yes. That's the thing. I don't know how
you work this thing out. I'm sorry.
That's what I That's me. That's when I
came to see what's in your hand. Oh,
that's my phone. That's not a phone.
Oh, what is that? You got a brick? No.
I'm just my sergeant cuz I Okay, this is
where you got to be honest with us. No,
I am being honest. Hey, can you come
watch this with
me?
Okay. Yep. What? Which set you're coming
back with? Huh? What's in your hand? I
had my phone with me. That's not a
phone. You can see how thick it is.
Looks kind of like a lighter fluid
bottle. A what? Like lighter fluid
bottle. Like the big brick white bottle.
We're up here.
So this is the call is 008. Mhm. This is
001.
Okay. That's you. Yeah, that's me.
What's in your hand?
That's not a phone.
Actually, you might have your phone
right there. No, that's my That's my
pen. That's your what? My pen. Your pen.
My pen. My pen. That's like a brick.
No, the one that you set on my chest.
Oh, okay. I was talking about what was
in your hand. Oh no. Back it up. You got
lighter fluid in your hand right
there. Look.
What is your Sorry. What is your name?
Jasmine. Jasmine. Yeah. Okay. This is
the part where you need to be 100%
honest. Okay. We're watching video of
you with a squeeze bottle in your hand
walking over the neighbor's house.
Okay. What does that look like?
my phone. No, the squeeze bottle in your
hand.
The
liquid that that we just
watched. So, Jasmine,
you see that? That's you right there on
the camera. Okay. What's that in your
hand? This is the part. This is where we
need you to be honest. Okay. All right.
It's going to go a long way for yourself
by being honest about what happened
tonight. Okay. Okay. So, what happened?
I was just mad. You're mad? Yeah. So,
you were mad and what happened? Did you
light his car on fire? No. Okay. Then
what what is going on there? I just put
a little bit thing, but I didn't let his
car on fire. I don't Okay, Jasmine,
we're we're past that point. Okay. Just
be honest about what happened tonight.
Okay. Mhm. Look at all this that's going
on there. Nobody got hurt. Okay. We're
talking about property, right? Nobody
got hurt.
Okay. So, what happened?
I just um was upset cuz he came to my
house and we just had a little argument
and that's when I started calling him
and that's I got mad. Yeah. You got mad.
Okay. All right, Jasmine. Let's here.
We're going to go out here real quick.
Come on.
We need Jasmine. Um, how old are you?
25 25.
We'll go here. We're going to go walk
over to the squad car right over here.
Okay. Um, just walk with me.
Go this way. This way.
All right. I'm just going to be placing
my squar. Okay. Right here, please. Come
here. Face right here on me. Yeah. Put
your hands behind your back. Why? Cuz
you're being placed under arrest. Okay.
Why? For arson.
Well, then why you arrest?
Cuz I didn't want to walk past your
parents in handcuffs. Okay. Well, you're
doing it right now. So, what's the
point? Do you have anything in your
pockets? Do you have any pockets? Right
here. Okay. Can you just lock it for me
real quick?
So, I'm going to be on arrest.
Hold on.
Yeah. Hold on. Come here. We're going to
have you step out real quick. My
sergeant is calling for you. Come on.
Wait, what? I
go right back to the door again. Yep. My
sergeant just asked. Oh my god.
What's that? Just wait. Jasmine, right?
Mhm. See, you put your hands in front.
Okay. All right, Jasmine. We need to
talk a little bit more about this. Okay.
Before I do, I'm just going to raise
your rights. Okay. We really need to get
to the bottom of this. All right. So,
we're going to just do this right here,
right now. Okay. Okay. All right. That's
fine. Before I ask you questions, it's
my duty to advise you your
constitutional rights. Have the rights
to remain silent. You understand the
constitutional rights I've advised you?
Okay. All right. Jasmine, so you said,
you mind if I said it? Yeah, go ahead.
That's fine. So, you said you got you
you were angry with him. Yeah. Okay. Who
is that teacher? Who is he? Like I don't
even know his name. What's his name? I
really don't know either. I just we just
um we just um basically we met like few
weeks ago and Okay. So, you said you got
in an argument for tonight. Yeah. What
was the argument about? uh about one of
his cousins uh getting jealous of him.
Okay. And he was um calling me some sn
I got offended. What time is the
argument around? Probably like around 10
or 11. Okay. 10 or 11. Okay. So you guys
get in an argument then what happens?
Um, we just um he just called me some
names
and I did tell him, "Oh, okay." And I
did what I did. Okay. Where Okay. Where
where were you guys arguing at? Like in
the yard on the phone or you guys just
arguing on the phone? Okay. So, what led
you what got So, what led you to go over
there and do that? I don't know.
Probably was the anger. The anger? Yeah.
Okay. So what so what was the bottle
that was in your hand?
It was um um what's it called? Um
was like for grilling? Yes. So it was
lighter fluid? Yes. Okay. Where did you
pour it on the car? Just like on the
tires. On the tires. Okay. So did did
you light it on fire then with like with
something then? With the paper. With
paper. Yeah. How did you light the
paper? I just like toss it. Okay. And so
you So, if I understand this right, you
you put the lighter fluid on the tires
and the paper on fire and you threw it
at the tire and then it caught on fire.
Yeah. And I was trying to turn it off,
but I You tried to put it out. How did
you try to put it out? With water. With
water. Where's that bottle at
now? The the lighter fluid bottle. Uh,
it's outside. It's outside. Where at? In
the garage. Okay. So, you'll be able to
show me where you have that? Yeah, it's
in it's in the basically in the garage.
It's like I think it's on the table. I
left it on the table.
Okay. Um, so this was all over just
being angry with him. Yeah. Did you like
like him as like maybe boyfriend or
something like that in the future? We
were not No, I mean was it trying to
talk to him like that or anything like
that? Okay. He was just basically like
just uh sneaking or whatever you guys
want to call it. Just like the hookup
thing. Hook up thing. Okay. Nothing
serious. Just call. Is that what like
the argument was over? Huh? Is that like
the argument was over? Uh, are you just
mad about the cousin calling you names?
Uh, him calling me names. Oh, he called
you names, too. Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah.
And that's the thing I did. It was okay.
It was It It was It was bad. I Yeah,
it's not I mean, you're l Put it this
way. I mean, a truck got damaged, a
house got damaged, but understand this
could have been a lot worse. What if the
house caught on fire and the people
inside didn't get out? you know that
could be that now we're talking serious
serious stuff. Not that this isn't
serious, but you see we're talking about
damage of property that could turn into
damage of life. And that's when I was
trying to get like water up the house
and try try to turn it off and and
that's when I was trying to get the
people out too and that's when I called
you guys. Okay. So you have So after you
did it, you had some remorse for doing
it and that's why you called 911. Okay.
Um I know it was it was my fault. I
know. Yeah. Go ahead and play this back
and let it play in full. But let's just
record it. I'm watching this. Is this
the part where you're going over there
and putting the lighter fluid? Okay.
Did it poof up? Like the flame get real
big real quick? Uh, no. It took forever
and that's when I went back inside the
house. So, was that after That's after
you started the fire and you're going
back? Yes. Let's keep recording cuz it
only records motion, right? What was it
again? Motion. You got gasoline, too?
Yes.
So, you used gasoline as well? Yes.
Okay. So, was that after the lighter
fluid? Did you pour ga gasoline on it
first or the lighter fluid? Gas. And
then I pull um the lighter fluid. Yes.
Okay. So, you you you did the gasoline
first, then you came back and did
lighter fluid. Yes. Okay. Did you pour
the gas on the tires or did you pour it
on the roof, the hood? I mean, where do
you remember? Just on the tires. Okay.
Okay. Do you know where the gas can is?
It's in the garage. Okay. It's all in
the garage. When we're done here getting
watching this, we're going to go
downstairs. We're going to get that
lighter fluid in that gas can. Okay. And
then we're going to we're still going to
need to talk about this more, but we're
going to do it down by our uh by our
facility, okay? Cuz there's still a lot
of unanswered questions and stuff like
that. Sorry. Well, it's appreciated.
Isn't going to suffice in this
situation, okay? So, we're going to have
to figure out what's going to happen. As
long as you're cooperative and good
enough, I'm not going to put you we're
not going to put you in handcuffs. Okay.
All
right. Good. Okay. Good. Hey, Jasmine,
do you mind just uh just stopping that
or turning it
off? All right. Let's go down. We're
going to take that with unplug that and
we'll take that with Did you spill any
of that fluid on you? Cuz you smell like
gasoline. Yeah. Let's go and take that
with and then let's run it out. Oh. Oh,
no. That's a DVD. This a DVD? Sorry.
Which one is Oh, it's this one. This
one. Oh, okay. Okay.
Okay. So, let's go downstairs where that
other stuff is. Okay.
Show me where it's all at. The thing is
right there. That's the water flow.
Okay. And the other one is in behind
you.
Behind us on the other side
on by the Oh, by the lawn mower. It was
the big one, right? With the yellow.
Yeah.
Sprout. There's the bigger gas can. Yes.
Hold this real quick.
After taking photos of the items used to
set the car on fire and obtaining a
search warrant for the security footage,
officers continue Jasmine's arrest and
put her in a squad car. We'll go right
to the front of this. Put your phone on
the on the hood, please, of this car.
That's fine. And then hands behind your
back. You just walk with me. We'll go to
this car. Okay. Go ahead and sit in
there. Watch your shoulder.
And what started off as a vehicle fire
spiral into something way more
suspicious. And it all started with a
neighbor's uneasy explanation. And Round
Lake Beach is supposedly a quiet family
suburb. But on this night, it wasn't.
And as police are interviewing this
woman, something was off and it wasn't
adding up. And the body camera captured
the moment the shift occurred in her
story. And this is odd because why would
you invite the police to watch camera
footage that you know will implicate you
in this arsson? I'm guessing she's just
not too bright. And at that moment, the
entire tone of her voice did change. But
to my surprise, she folded quicker than
a lawn chair and fessed up. But her calm
attitude during this whole ordeal was
crazy. And apparently, she believes
arson isn't that big of a deal. And this
had to be one of the sloppiest attempt
to cover ups ever. And honestly, it was
quite easy for these officers to figure
out that she did do it. And when a
police officer is interviewing somebody,
they're gathering much information. And
they're not just listening to your
words, they're paying attention to
what's not being said while also
listening to your tone and watching your
body language closely. And you may be
able to fool some people, but when
you're standing in front of a trained
officer with a body camera recording and
your own surveillance foot is playing
back in real time, the lie doesn't just
crumble. Ironically, it burns. If you're
not ready to tell the truth, you
shouldn't be ready to talk to the
police. 24year-old Jasmine Martinez was
charged with one count of arson, a class
2 felony in Illinois. Court records show
she pleaded guilty in September 2024 as
part of a negotiated plea deal. A judge
sentenced Jasmine to 36 months of
probation and 200 hours of public
service. She was also sentenced to 18
months of periodic imprisonment,
however, due to staffing issues at the
Lake County Jail. Jasmine will instead
be on electronic home monitoring for the
18 months. She was also ordered to not
consume alcohol, drugs, or cannabis
during her probation and to have no
contact with the victim.