Te Atatū Molotov cocktail attack: Natalia and Daniel Rodriguez traumatised after night bombing

Police were called to the Te Atatū house about 2.30am on Sunday, August 6, after a Molotov cocktail was thrown through a bedroom window. Photo / Raphael Franks

West Auckland couple Natalia and Daniel Rodriguez had seconds to escape their burning house after a teenager threw a Molotov cocktail through their bedroom window as they slept.

Police were called to the Cron Ave, Te Atatū, house about 2.30am on Sunday, August 6. The bedroom window backs directly onto a public accessway to a reserve.

The charred property has since been boarded up, with singed clothes scattered across the front porch. A smoky smell remained at the property when the Herald visited almost three weeks after the attack.

Daniel Rodriguez was badly injured, suffering first-degree burns on his face and hands as he tried to put the fire out, their landlord Nicole Bagshomali said in a post on Givealittle. The Givealittle page to fundraise for the couple has so far raised more than $11,000 in the 15 days it has been active.

Te Atatū couple Natalia and Daniel Rodriguez lost all of their belongings and are traumatised after a teenager threw a Molotov cocktail through their bedroom window on August 6.

The Molotov landed directly at the foot of the Rodriguez’s bed and fire “spread extremely quickly onto the mattress and up the curtains”, Bagshomali said.

The firebombing destroyed all their belongings and left the couple traumatised.

The Rodriguez couple were asleep when their room was engulfed in flames. Photo / Raphael Franks

Bagshomali said on Givealitle the couple returned from the hospital to find “all of their stuff reduced to ashes”.

“Daniel and Natalia had seconds to get out of the house in order to survive.

“It’s extremely heartbreaking and they’ll have to start over again from scratch,” she said.

“We can’t understand how someone could do this.”

Detective Sergeant Murray Free said the couple were asleep when their room was engulfed in flames.

“One person received burns to their face, and both occupants were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns to their bodies,” Free said.

“The house was extensively damaged by fire and the couple were forced to move out of their home.”

Free said it was a “terrifying ordeal for the victims, and a completely unprovoked attack, which will have a financial impact on [them]”.

A Molotov cocktail is a crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle filled with flammable liquid that is lit before being thrown.

Police executed a search warrant this week and arrested a 16-year-old over the incident.

“I want to reassure the community that we are committed to making sure people are held accountable for their actions,” Free said.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.