Last Saturday in Logan Heights, a car was torched by what appears from the security video, to be two men in hoodies and masks. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports.
San Diego police and the Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST) are on the lookout for two suspected fire starters after a car was torched by what appears from security video to be two men in hoodies and masks last Saturday in Logan Heights.
Katrina Miguel wasn’t home at the time. When she arrived, firefighters were extinguishing the inferno that was her 2013 Hyundai Genesis.
“Surprise, shock, confusion,” Miguel said.
It seemed to first responders like a battery fire, but on closer examination of the video recorded on a camera mounted above the garage, this was something more sinister.
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“Did I do something? Did I anger the wrong person?” Miguel asked.
Just before 10 o’clock, two people covered in hoodies and masks carrying squeeze bottles of flammable fluid showed up.
“I’ve watched the video a couple dozen times," Miguel said. "Just the way they went toward my car, they didn’t look at anyone else. It definitely felt targeted."
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The security camera recording stops and starts every 20 seconds. That’s how it goes from the alleged fire starters to bursting into flames.
“It makes me really scared because I don’t know if I am safe,” Miguel said.
The fire started on the hood of the car, over on the passenger side. It went down into the engine, destroyed the battery, destroyed the fender and tire.
The insurance company is telling her it is totaled; fortunately, she was able to salvage what is inside, like her work supplies, which are important since Miguel is a behavioral specialist in the San Diego Unified school system.
“Kids board games, toys and a weighted blanket," Miguel said. "You know, stuff for the kids."
Tyler Montello, her boyfriend, moved in that day.
“It just came out of nowhere,” Montello said.
In fact, they were collecting his things at Montello’s apartment at the time the fire started.
“I put in my two weeks and left my job early so I could be home more until my other job starts,“ Montello said.
The couple is convinced the move was coincidental, not connected to the arson. They are concerned this had more to do with Miguel’s bumper stickers. One is a symbol of the flag of the Philippines. The other is the state of Texas, where Miguel is from.
“I’ve had those on my car since I have had the car, since 2013, and I have never really had issue with it,” Miguel said.
No matter the motive, the suspected arsonists remain free. Miguel is the one feeling confined. She has no car to visit the schools she needs to for work and is afraid to go outside alone.
“I don’t walk my dog outside anymore. My boyfriend does it. I pretty much don’t leave the apartment unless he is with me,“ Miguel said.
San Diego police aren’t connecting this crime to any other car fires. A spokesperson says MAST is investigating just one other car fire started in the last three weeks.
