An arson investigation is underway after several cars were set on fire in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles overnight, police confirmed to KTLA.
Neighborhood 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 on the sidewalk.
“I walk out and it’s 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 find scenes like this, random and destructive fires, but this time someone was targeting people’s cars.
“You have a car down there on fire and then you go up a block, you just hear a boom, and I’m assuming it was a tire exploding,” Finnerty added. “It’s crazy.”
Unfortunately, Cecelia Martínez’s family car caught fire.
“My biggest fear was that the cars would explode because I had just put gas in them,” he explained. “I don’t have a car right now. Yes, the insurance will pay, but what about all the memories we had in that car? “It was our family car.”
A person flees from a burning car in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 26, 2024 (viewer photo).A car on fire in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 26, 2024 (viewer photo).Charred remains of a car burned in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 26, 2024. (KTLA)Charred remains of a car burned in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 26, 2024. (KTLA)
Thomas Conrad told KTLA he believes the fires could be the work of someone who lives in a nearby homeless encampment.
“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, saying arson was to blame for the charred destruction that was left.
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“It’s not what they did,” said Johana Martínez. “It’s more about the car that was taken from us. It’s really going to hurt because you don’t know the sacrifices my parents made to get us that car that we were all comfortable in.”
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the LKeynote USAD. Those who wish 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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