An arson investigation is underway after several cars were set on fire overnight in Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood, police confirmed to KTLA.
Local residents living between North Bunker Hill Avenue and Bartlett Street woke up around 4:30 a.m. Sunday when flames engulfed several of their cars parked along the curb.
“When I go outside, it seems like the world is on fire,” Daniel Finnerty told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “The apocalypse is happening in my front yard.”
Residents who spoke to KTLA said it’s not uncommon to encounter scenes like this, random and destructive fires, but this time someone targeted people’s cars.
“You have a car set on fire there and then a block away, you just hear a boom, and I assume it was an exploding tire,” Finnerty added. “It’s crazy stuff.”
Unfortunately, Cecelia Martinez’s family car caught fire.
“My biggest fear was that the cars would explode because I had just put gas in my car,” she explained. “I don’t have a car at the moment. Yes, the insurance pays, but what happens to all the memories we had in that car? It was our family car.”
Thomas Conrad told KTLA he believes the fires could be the work of someone living in a nearby homeless camp.
“Here we go again,” he said when asked what he thought of the situation. “It’s exciting to commit crimes knowing you probably won’t get caught and if you do, you’ll get the proverbial slap on the wrist.”
Los Angeles Police Department investigators spent time at the scene collecting evidence and said arson was the cause of the charred destruction left behind.
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“It’s not what they did,” Johana Martinez said. “It’s more about the car they took from us. It’s really going to hurt because they don’t know what sacrifices my parents made to give us that car that we all felt comfortable in.”
Anyone with information about the fire is urged to contact the LAPD. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at www.lacrimestoppers.org
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