DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Delray Beach man is facing a felony charge after deputies say he doused his mother and brother with lighter fluid and threw lit matches at them during a domestic dispute over his living arrangements. Leslie Ira Langer, 66, was arrested Sunday night on a charge of aggravated battery on a person 65 years of age or older, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to the home around 10:11 p.m. Sunday after a 911 call reporting a fight between a mother and her two adult sons. When deputies arrived, they reported smelling a strong odor of lighter fluid inside the home and finding a bottle of the fluid and spent matches on the floor. Langer was found on the dining room floor near the kitchen table, reportedly unable to stand on his own because the tile had become slippery from spilled lighter fluid.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by BocaNewsNow.com, Langer had been staying temporarily at his mother’s two-bedroom home for several years after going through a rough patch, but she had recently asked him to move out, with an attorney-issued eviction notice setting a May 31 deadline. Investigators say the confrontation began Sunday when Langer’s brother went into the kitchen and the two began arguing, escalating when Langer allegedly grabbed a container of lighter fluid, cut it open with scissors, and sprayed it on his brother’s face, body and hair before striking matches and throwing them at him. Deputies say their mother then intervened and was also sprayed with the fluid, with some getting into her eye despite her wearing glasses.
The brother told deputies he attempted to tackle Langer to stop him from continuing, and a struggle ensued before the mother was able to call 911. Langer was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail where he remains held on $30,000 bond.
