State trooper’s car set afire

THE BLOTTER
5:00 AM CDT, July 23, 2008

An Illinois State Police trooper’s squad car was set on fire outside his home Tuesday night on Chicago’s Northwest Side, authorities said.

The trooper came home around 9 p.m. and parked his squad car in the 2100 block of North McVicker Avenue. When he looked outside about 15 minutes later, his vehicle was ablaze, police said.

Firefighters called to the scene extinguished the fire, and state police were later told that someone likely broke the car’s window, poured an accelerant onto the seat and lit it. No one was injured, but the trooper’s video camera, ticket book and other items were torched. A van was seen speeding away, state police said.

Nothing was thought to have been stolen from the vehicle.

A Chicago police spokesman said the bomb and arson unit was handling the investigation.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blotter/chi-trooper-car-fire-web-jul24,0,470615.story