Caught on camera: Woman's car torched; among recent car arson cases in Tacoma

Tacoma police are searching for a person who torched a woman’s car about 2 a.m. last Wednesday, leaving it a charred mess.

Police say it’s the third vehicle that was set on fire in recent weeks.

The fire was so fierce it blew out the windows and the inside was gutted, left burnt and crispy. The car owner said it was her only car, and she doesn’t have the money on hand to afford another.

KIRO 7 received surveillance video showing flames, smoke rising and flashing lights outside the home of the car owner.

Police said it was arson.

Carol Painter, the car's owner said, “Sad! I was heartbroken. I wanted to get a fire extinguisher and put it out, and everybody thought it would blow up, so I didn’t want to get too close to it.”

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Painter said she heard the noise from inside her apartment, which is located on South Lawrence Street near 56th Street. “It was a thunk. It wasn’t like breaking glass.”

“Came out and the neighbor was screaming somebody threw a torch in my car,” painter said.

At least one person with a flashlight was captured on surveillance video from her apartment building in the parking lot.

Painter said someone used a rock to smash her window and throw a flaming object inside, before taking off down a nearby alley.

“I have a hard time believing somebody is that malicious and doing it just for kicks. That’s what I think it was.”

No arrests have been made, police said.

Carol is hoping whoever torched her car is found before they strike again. “Angry, depressing, hoping it doesn’t happen to somebody else.”

No one has been hurt in the recent arson cases in Tacoma, but police are asking anyone with tips that can lead them to the arsonist to give them a call.

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