PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Police in Palm Beach Gardens are investigating a case of arson, saying a car fire was no accident. In fact, they said cameras captured the culprits in the act.
Neighbors in a quiet Palm Beach Gardens community woke up early Sunday morning to what some described as an explosion.
“I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ And come out and you see the flames, and the fire truck just pulled up,” homeowner Lori Brown said.
All eyes were on one car. Brown said it belonged to her son.
“If someone didn’t hear this, this could have ended in — I can’t even fathom,” she said.
Palm Beach Gardens police and a fire specialist detective were soon called to the scene. But Brown said she never expected what happened next.
“He determined right on the spot, he’s like, this was definitely arson premeditated,” Brown said. “They brought gasoline with them. They knew what they were doing, this wasn’t just spur of the moment.”
Neighbors began checking their cameras and spotted two people — believed to be teenage boys.
“One had a backpack on, walking right towards my house,” Brown said. “Several minutes later, my other neighbor has a camera of two boys running that way and you can see the fire, kind of in the back from over here. So it just exploded at that point.”
If they’re responsible, Brown said she can’t fathom why they would do it.
“(It’s) not toilet paper, throwing, egging a house or anything, even vandalizing his car, something like that,” she said. “This is arson and it was premeditated, used with gasoline.”
While she’s thankful no one was hurt, Brown said she’s hopeful someone will come forward with information to help catch those responsible.
“I need to know who did this and caused unbelievable damage to my home, to my family, to my whole street, my neighborhood,” she said. “Everybody is on edge because of this, because stuff like this just doesn’t happen.”
Shortly after posting the video, a student at another school contacted Brown and her son, saying their car had also been set on fire in similar fashion just three weeks earlier.
Police are now looking into whether the cases are connected or if it was just a coincidence.