Car catches fire, suspect caught on camera
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Police are searching for a man who torched a car as it was parked right next to two homes.
Luckily nobody was hurt. Even better, the potential suspect was caught on camera The car’s owner, Anthony Myers, was at a family member’s for the night.
He said he got a call Tuesday morning that the car he had been restoring for years in his driveway caught on fire. But he had no idea how it happened until he checked his security cameras.
“This was my Christine, Regina Christine,” Myers said as he stood next to his charred 1983 Oldsmobile.
It’s impossible to tell now, but he said the car was a fresh paint job away from being fully restored.
“I’ve been having it for I’d say a good 5-6 years and it was almost done you know, until this (happened),” Myers said.
You can imagine Myers being upset but he’s feeling a differently way. “Thankful, fortunate enough to be able to have the cameras,” he said.
Myers has one security camera above his garage near his car. Two more are attached to his home. All three caught the key moments before and after the car caught fire.
Around 12:30 a.m. the video shows something burning getting tossed onto the car, then it bursts into flames.
Another angle then shows a person walking away with what appears to be a gas can before quickly getting into a mini-van nearby and driving away.
“I got an idea of what he looked like now,” Myers said looking at the suspect in the video.
About half an hour ticks by, then the video shows man who appears to be on the phone. It was a neighbor calling 911.
“I heard something go ‘woosh’,” the neighbor told 24-Hour News 8. He asked we hide his identity. Had he not called for help, he worries the fire could have spread.
“Everything could have got out of control. There’s elderly people that live less than 30 feet from where that car was on fire at,” the neighbor said.
Some of the paint and plastic of Myers’ garage was already melting as fire fighters arrived. He knows he lucky and is counting his blessings knowing more damage wasn’t done. But he did have a message for the suspect.
“You’re on your way to being caught,” Myers said.
Myers explained who he feels might be behind the crime and why he was targeted, but we’ve decided to leave that part between him and the investigators for now.
The mini-van in the video was last seen driving north in the 3300 block of North Denny Street around 12:30 a.m. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS(8477).
