Yahoo Autos Man Allegedly Commits Arson at Dealership That He Claims Sold Him a Lemon Jeep 36 Years Ago
An Indiana man has been charged with four counts of arson after torching four cars at two Fort Wayne dealerships. Why did he do it? Revenge for being sold a lemon of a Jeep in 1986, The Washington Post reports.
On July 17 at around 1:15 a.m., Dewey Fredrick, 79, showed up to O'Daniel Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram's used car lot in a 2002 Chevy S-10 and stuffed a lit road flare into the fuel filler of a 2019 Jeep Compass, according to an arson investigator. The fire quickly engulfed the crossover and spread to a nearby 2013 GMC Acadia and a 2020 Jeep Cherokee.
Fredrick then proceeded to O'Daniel Mazda just a few minutes down the road, cut a hole in the roof of a Pontiac Solstice on the lot, and dropped another flare inside, igniting the cabin. In all, Fredrick's actions caused roughly $84,000 in damages.
From The Post:
A camera captured Fredrick at the first car lot, [the investigator] said. When the arson investigator interviewed Fredrick, he confessed to starting the fires, explaining that he did so because O’Daniel had sold him a Jeep with a bad motor in 1986 and then “refused to make it right,” the affidavit states. He allegedly retaliated at the time by putting Super Glue in the door locks of several cars on an O’Daniel lot.
Fredrick didn't seem to express any regret regarding his actions, telling the investigator “It was time for the chickens to return to roost."
When shown a surveillance video of the first three cars ablaze, Fredrick allegedly pointed himself out in the footage before saying “Oh, that [sucker] was cooking wasn’t it?”
Fredrick was charged with four counts of felony arson on Saturday. If convicted on all charges, he could face anywhere from eight to 48 years in prison.
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