At Least 6 Cars Set On Fire Overnight In Elmont
ELMONT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A quiet Nassau County neighborhood awoke Thursday morning to sounds of exploding cars – a rash of torched vehicles with flames shooting into the sky.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported, police had a suspect in custody late Thursday afternoon after at least six cars were set on fire overnight within a several block radius in Elmont.
Nassau County police said they received the first call around 3:45 a.m. and within an hour, four cars had gone up in flames.
Police said the suspect first damaged a 2009 Chevrolet parked on Hillsborough Avenue by slashing the front seat and the dashboard. Then the fires began – beginning with a 2012 Nissan parked on Terrace Avenue, followed by a 2001 Mercedes Benz, a 2008 Infiniti and a 2009 Toyota all on Stone Street, and a 2014 Infiniti parked on Steele Street.
The suspect was also blamed for back window damage to a 2003 Honda parked on Stone Street.
Cellphone video captured the raging flames destroying Wendy Saravia's car and her sister's sport-utility vehicle.
"Anybody that does this is not right in the head," Saravia said. "It's sick."
Car alarms are heard screeching in a surveillance video pointed at a flaming sedan on Stone Street.
"Very upsetting," said Tobin Madathil, whose cousin's vehicle was torched. "You know, you wouldn't expect this, when you wake up in the morning, to see this, you know, your car flaming and fires."
Witnesses said a suspect on a rampage made his way around the quiet Elmont neighborhood, armed with devices to torch vehicles at random. He completely destroyed the interiors of half a dozen cars – shattering glass and melting seats and steering wheels.
He also left behind a smelly, charred mess.
"My sister heard the fire engine, she yelled that the truck was on fire and we came outside and the flames were shooting up on the side," resident Carl Ford told 1010 WINS' Samantha Liebman.
Among the vehicles destroyed was Ford's treasured gift to his wife, which carries the license plate "WASAGIFT."
"It was her engagement present, as you can see by the plate," Ford said. "It meant a lot to her. It meant a lot to us."
It took a hero neighbor to stop the rampage. The neighbor, who declined to be interviewed on camera, confronted the alleged firebug and chased him down on Lincoln Street – knocking him to the ground and holding him for police.
"I guess he was trying to set my brother's car on fire," said Jaeleen Giraldo. "And someone on the street saw him and punched him out."
Giraldo told CBS2 she saw the man unconscious in the street with a backpack, lighter, and wires near his body following the incidents.
"I thought it was a dead person outside," Giraldo said. "And then I come outside and I see them [emergency medical personnel] putting him on the ambulance and stuff and then one of the cops tell us he was setting cars on fire like four blocks away from here."
CBS2 was there when the Good Samaritan led police to another potential victim's car, surrounded by accelerants.
The gray compact was saved, but under its hood, there was a series of wires, batteries, chargers, and an electric lighter.
Late Thursday, Juan Perez, 36, of Elmont, was charged with three counts of arson and criminal mischief, Nassau County police said. After being arrested, he was taken to an area hospital and treated, police said.
"We don't know his exact motivation at this time. We know that he was looking for money, but as far as exactly why he set fire to the vehicles and why he slashed the seats, we may not know that," said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Richard Lebrun.
But Ford was glad a suspect was caught.
"Hopefully, justice will be served because if he ever had to deal with her [his wife], he'd be in trouble," he told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall.
Late Thursday as schoolchildren walked home past gutted cars, the community hoped to return to normalcy. Many in the neighborhood carry only liability insurance, so the car fires meant a total loss.