Crime

Elmont man torches five cars, police say

Damages two other during early morning incident

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An Elmont man was arrested for setting 5 cars ablaze and vandalizing two others over the course of an hour and a half early Thursday morning in Elmont, Nassau County Police said.

According to detectives, Juan F. Perez, 37, of Keller Avenue, broke into seven cars throughout Elmont and stole contents from each of them sometime between 3:35 a.m. and 5 a.m. He torched five of the vehicles, including three on Stone Street, one on Terrace Avenue, and one on Steele Street. A sixth vehicle parked near one of the cars that was ablaze sustained radiant heat damaged, police said.

Perez damaged two other vehicles as well, breaking windows and slashing seats with a box cutter before stealing contents from the two cars, police said.

While Perez was breaking into a 2014 Infiniti on the corner of Steele Street and Lincoln Street, a 32-year-old man, who was on his way to work, confronted Perez. Perez attempted to strike the resident, who was also the owner of the Infiniti, and a fight ensued. During the confrontation, the Infiniti caught fire due to Perez’s tampering. The resident was able to subdue Perez until police arrived. During the fight, Perez sustained some injuries and was taken to a local hospital. He has since been released, police said.

Following the fight proceeds from Perez’s multiple larcenies were recovered on the street and sidewalk by police. Perez was also in possession of stolen goods when he was arrested.

“It was an hour and a half of him going through cars,” said Detective Lieutenant Richard Lebrun at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The motive behind torching the cars is not yet known at this time, Lebrun added.

The incidents are currently being investigated by the arson and bomb squad, Lebrun said. He also urged residents to be aware of damage to cars throughout their community as the summer months are approaching and people may be away on vacation.

Police also have not identified the method that Perez used to torch the vehicles but noted that he seemed to be intoxicated at the time of the arrest.

Perez is charged with arson and numerous counts of felony mischief. He will be arraigned on Friday.