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Car engulfed in flames; BCPD says man threw 2 Molotov cocktails at it

Posted at 7:51 PM, May 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-16 19:52:11-04

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Battle Creek Police are looking for the suspect who lit a car on fire Wednesday morning by throwing two Molotov cocktails at it.

“This definitely seems like it’s something personal,” Detective Sgt. Todd Elliott said during an interview at police headquarters. “You don’t usually just have somebody come up and throw a Molotov cocktail at your car.”

Elliott said police and fire crews were dispatched to the home on Capital Avenue around 3:45 a.m. They received multiple calls about a car being on fire.

“Passers-by, one being a city cab and other neighbors, called 911 reporting this,” he said. “They heard some of the noises from the fire, tires blowing and other fire noises.”

When firefighters arrived, the car — a 2009 Mercedes — was engulfed in flames, he said. They were able to put it out before it reached the house or the gas in the car.

“We found out the homeowner was actually a couple of blocks away at a friends house when this was going on,” said Elliott. “So nobody was home.”

The incident was caught on the homeowner's surveillance cameras, Sgt. Elliott said. It showed the suspect, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, walking up to the home and throwing Molotov cocktails at the car.

“In the video, you can see the bottle bounces off the roof, off the house, and then lands right next to the car,” Elliott said. “A few seconds later another bottle comes from the same area. The flaming container lands on the driver side of the car.”

BCPD are looking for that person, he said. They’re hoping the public will help them catch him soon.

“The victim’s working with us to try to identify who might have done this,” Elliott said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Battle Creek Police Department at 269-966-3322 or Silent Observer at 269-964-3888.