PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Detectives in Washington County are looking for the culprit behind a car arson that was caught on video on Sunday morning.
The incident happened in the parking lot of a Fred Meyer on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway just before 8 a.m., and by Monday afternoon, the destroyed car was still in the same spot.
Video of the arson’s aftermath, which was sent in by a KOIN 6 News viewer, shows firefighters responding to the car fire between the strip mall and the Fred Meyer.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office provided surveillance video showing someone apparently intentionally setting the car on fire, and then the subsequent explosion, sending parts into the air. Video also captures the moment some of the suspect’s clothing catches on fire.
A man who works nearby told KOIN 6 News he had seen the car in the parking spot for a while.
“This car has been here about a week at this point,” Tervel said. “There was damage on the side of it.”
Washington County Sheriff’s Det. Mark Povolny talked to KOIN 6 News about the case.
“The car owner had been letting a friend use the car and it was parked there while he was waiting to get it back. So it wasn’t a stolen car, wasn’t abandoned,” he said. “Just had been parked there for a little bit while the owner was going to retrieve it.”
It’s unclear at this time whether the arson was targeted or random, Povolny said.
“We haven’t been able to identify the person who did it, and that will be one of the big factors in determining whether this was just a random attempt to set a car on fire,” he said. “We know arsonists, from the research, will set whatever it is on fire. So there’s a possibility to just select a random vehicle and it was that opportunity.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact WSCO.