S.C. Police Cruiser Torched, Others Doused with Gas

June 26--DILLON, S.C. -- Police are investigating the arson of one of their cruisers and attempted arson of eight others early Wednesday morning.

According to an incident report released by the Dillon Police Department, patrol officer Lorie Tyler reported that she was patrolling Hampton Street and smelled the odor of gas and it was strong enough she feared her cruiser was leaking fuel.

When she pulled into the 200 South 5th Avenue police department parking lot at 4:30 a.m. to check her cruiser she saw that one of the other cruisers parked there was ablaze.

While Dillon firefighters extinguished the burning cruiser, other officers searched the parking lot and "realized that nine vehicles had been doused with fuel," according to the report.

"Normally the area of 9th through 11th Avenue would be filled with people walking the streets. Today no one was walking at all. The entire ara was dead," Tyler wrote in the report.

A line of fuel across the asphalt linked each of the doused cruisers but bypassed one of the officers' personal vehicles parked in cruisers' midst.

Firefighters hosed off the doused cruisers and the parking lot to prevent further damage.

A canvas by Dillon Police and Dillon County Sheriff's deputies of area stores that sell gasoline and kerosene didn't turn up any suspicious purchases, according to the report.

Damage to the cruiser, a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria, was valued at $10,000, according to the incident report.

Anybody with information about the arson is asked to call CrimeStoppers of the Pee Dee at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers need not reveal their identity.

Copyright 2013 - Florence Morning News, S.C.