6 Cars Torched In Just 24 Hours; Southbay Firefighters On The Alert

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Police and fire crews were dealing with a rash of car fires in the South Bay since Monday night.

Three of the vehicles were torched in the span of just one hour in San Jose.

Two cars were set ablaze on Caspian Sea Drive at about 7:25 p.m.

"First, I heard the sound of glass breaking," said Andrew B., one of the car owners. "I opened the door and saw a man standing right there at my car.  Yelled at him, he looked back. By the time I went after him, he was running off."

Desiree Ruiz was visiting with her children from Stockton when her car was torched in the 1900 block of Willow Street at 8 p.m. She had clothes and a stroller inside her car, which she says she relies heavily on as her only mode of transportation.

"We have just came back from laundry," her friend said. "We had parked the van it had been there an hour ago.  And then we come back and we see the firefighters and we got out and then her was burned down."

Earlier, a car fire broke out just after midnight at the River Walk apartments at 1510 South Bascom Avenue.

About two hours later another car burst into flames near the eBay building, just south of the River Walk complex.

In nearby Campbell, a van was torched in the 2100 block of S. Bascom Avenue around 10 p.m. Monday night.

All the cars were towed from the scene early Tuesday morning leaving behind some charred debris and shattered glass

Last week, there were two similar car fires in the same area, near South Bascom Avenue. San Jose police said those fires are being investigated as arson.

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