Early Monday morning, a local family woke up to the smell of smoke right outside their bedroom window. When the homeowners stepped outside, they quickly realized that their son’s car had been set on fire.
Lubbock Fire responded to the home located in the 2600 block of East Auburn shortly after 5:30 a.m., but the family took action first by grabbing a garden hose and putting out what flames that they could.
The Rutherford family shared that while on scene, officials noticed a lone gas can left behind near the home, and took it with them for investigation.
Lubbock Police say that the Lubbock Fire Marshal’s Office is leading the investigation.
Family members say that the car had been parked outside their home since late November, and have no idea as to why someone would want to set the car on fire now. There was also one other car parked in the driveway and it did not appear to have been targeted.
“They were going for this car because gas was poured on this car, so we’re going to have to move it as soon as possible,” said Jerry Rutherford, the homeowner. “A car on fire. That was the first time I had ever seen that.”
Fortunately, no one was hurt. However, the car set on fire was parked right outside the bedroom where family members were sleeping. Rutherford said that if his wife had not smelled the smoke, they may have not been able to get their family out of the house.
“I would think they would think twice before they would set a fire in front of someone’s home, because, obviously the person who did it intended to burn the car, but the car is inches away from the home, and it could have cost me and my wife our lives, or my grandchildren,” said Rutherford.
“We had put it [the car] away and thought, well, we’ll put it close to the house because people will be less likely to mess with it if it’s up in front of the house. Obviously, I was wrong.”
