The Seattle Fire Department and SPD’s arson and bomb squad are investigating a car apparently set on fire in the 2500 block of E Pine, the third suspicious care fire in the area since the end of May.
UPDATE: Seattle Fire investigators have determined the fire was intentionally set. SPD says detectives are investigating the arson as a possible hate crime:
Investigators are looking into the possibility of a bias crime as part of their arson investigation on a car that was deliberately set on fire early this morning in the Central District.
Shortly after 1:00 am, Seattle Police and Seattle Fire responded to a vehicle fire in the 2500 Block of East Pine Street. Seattle Fire extinguished the flames, and detectives from the Arson/Bomb Unit responded. Graffiti with racial epithets was spray-painted onto the car prior to the fire. There were no injuries, but the vehicle, a 1990 Cadillac Deville, appears to be a total loss. Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact Seattle Police.
View Suspicious Car Fires in a larger map
In previous incidents, a Subaru was totally destroyed in a July 3rd incident at 21st and Pine. Earlier, a truck was destroyed in an apparently intentionally set fire at 24th and Thomas.
May 31: “In other news from the East Precinct, police are investigating a truck fire believe to have been set intentionally Friday morning at 24th and E Thomas. Seattle Fire responded to the blaze to the tucked away intersection a block from the main drags of E Madison and 23rd just before 4 AM. A subsequent investigation revealed signs of arson.”
July 3rd: “A suspicious car fire at 21st and E Pine drew a fire response, police and an investigation Wednesday night. According to police radio, the department’s bomb squad was notified of the incident but did not respond. We’ll update with more information when we get it. UPDATE: An eyewitness reports: “early 2000′s Subaru legacy wagon. Total loss. Fire started in passenger cabin. Owner was a non neighborhood resident (I think).” UPDATEx2: Seattle Fire tells us fire investigators determined that somebody set fire to the locked Subaru Legacy causing $7200 in damage.”
There are few details yet released on this latest incident first reported just before 1 AM Wednesday. We are continuing to update the story as information comes in.
Any idea why this event is not on the 911 neighborhood map – the one with the color-coded icons on it? It IS on the Fire Dept. 911 incident response page, which normally shows up at the map location as “FIRE” inside a white box.
Does anyone know what race the racial comments were? Were they anti-white? anti-black? anti-?????
The “N-word” was spray-painted on the back and possibly other places
Not sure if there is any relation but Mount Cavalry and the Neighbor Lady building were both tagged last night.
Bummer. Old Caddies are too cool to burn. Only an idiot would do that.
This story needs some more flesh on it. Spray painting N0 N____ and burning vehicles is hard to put into any context other than very serious racism with a strong shift towards voilence. This would be something we have not addressed here in several years.
It is possible that this is something other than a racist attack. It could be very tasteless rivalry or a grudge thing amongst people of the same race. That would, unfortunately, be preferable to the thought of race relations shifting to a level where we have overt violent attacks. What next, cross burnings and ropes on trees?
We need to know more about this case. Did the other vehicles have racist tags? Were the other vehicles owned by blacks. Were any or all of the victims engaged in activities that may have led to being targetted?
I don’t see how we can let stand such apparently overt race attacks without demanding details. If it as it appears on the surface, things are going very badly.
We’re working on gathering more details. SPD hasn’t provided any further updates. We’re hoping to connect with witnesses to the recent incidents. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you can help.
Probaly real estate folks trying to push more people out..
Yes. The Realtors Guild is working with the UN to turn the CD into an “international zone”. Primarilythe area will be set aside for “refugee” aliance partners from the mid east. They will build a new “cab driver class” to repopulate and invigorate internationalized cultural values. The SPD drones were purchase to make these “global citizens” feel at home. The bald guy realtor uscactually a spy for the UN cultural enforcement committee.
Damn your on to us!!!!
I am disappointed by the lack of attention this story has gotten. We may not know all the information yet but we do know that an African American man’s car was set on fire and spray painted with the n-word. Why isn’t there more response? I think that most of us gentrifying Caucasians shut down around a story like this.(It took me a few days to write a response myself) We do not want to be associated with this kind of act so rather than express support for our neighbors, we ignore the story completely. We are so afraid of being blamed and looking at our own racism that a story like this just can’t be processed. Now imagine reading this same news story and hearing it was from Florida. Wouldn’t you feel safer in condemning it? Wouldn’t you be outraged that the whites in the area hadn’t done more? This kind of deaf response to racism in our city fuels the division between us.
Because the CD is not full of white trash red neck bigots like Florida. I bet it was a white middle class anarchist trying to stir up trouble. Just a guess. Didn’t they squat a wealthy black mans house several years ago and not a white developers?
So when a person in Florida does something like this it is because they are trash but if it happens in Seattle it is part of a political statement? Not sure I understand your point. If this was done by a middle class white person or a poor white person, this is a horrific act. It is an easy out to suggest that someone is just stirring up trouble. It lets us off the hook and allows us to sit in our holier than thou position of only recognizing racism as something serious when it happens far away from us.This kind of act can happen anywhere precisely because we are all not as sophisticated or as open-minded as we would like to be.
So CD neighbor, go wollow in your own white middle class guilt. As usual you did not understand what I wrote.
Chilax tighties. This was a gang thing. No need to get all bunched up in the drawers.
Lighting strangers cars on fire is wack regardless of motive. That being said im shocked this wasn’t an act of evil white racism because I’m extremely gullible and rarely have ventured into the cd but I do watch lots of TV. We need to all look deep within ourselves (only if we’re white) and watch dr Quinn medicine woman or perhaps a sitcom.