Arsonist Lights Up Victoria Park Area of Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Sept. 29, 2004
Police and firefighters were kept busy Tuesday morning tracking a string of arson fires in the Victoria Park neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale.
Police and firefighters were kept busy Tuesday morning tracking a string of arson fires in the Victoria Park neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale.

A car alarm woke residents of 820 NE 16th Ter. about 5:30 a.m. The residents found that their their vehicle had been broken into.

Then they noticed a car on fire down the street at 832 NE 16th Ter. A 1993 Mercury Sable owned by Ben Di Leo was afire; a van parked next to it was also damaged.

Chief Simac Gonzalez, of Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, said the arsonist ran from the scene.

''A couple a minutes after the car was lit, the vehicle next to it also caught on fire,'' said Gonzalez.

Shortly afterward, police learned that someone had tried to set a white Chevrolet Blazer on fire at 1698 NE Ninth St.

The next fire broke out in a laundry shed behind a duplex at 1637 NE 9th St.

That was extinguished when a police officer and fire inspector investigating the fire at the Blazer noticed smoke across the street. T

Right after, there was another report of a fire, t at 905 NE 17th Ave., where someone tried to torch a pickup.

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