Two police vehicles at the Orono Police Department were destroyed in a suspected case of arson
Two police vehicles in Orono, Minn. were destroyed in a suspected case of arson. Photo by Greg Kellogg / FOX 9 News.
Two police vehicles at the Orono Police Department were destroyed in a suspected case of arson. Photo by Karen Scullin / FOX 9 News.ORONO, Minn. (KMSP) -
Two police vehicles in Orono, Minn. were destroyed in a suspected case of arson in the west metro police department's parking lot.
An Orono police officer pulled into the lot just after 3 a.m. Friday and found a Chevy Tahoe police vehicle on fire, with flames spreading to an adjacent Dodge Charger. A third squad car sustained heat damage.
Firefighters arrived and put out the fires in about 10 minutes. Crime lab investigators found evidence of an accelerant, leading police to believe the fires were intentionally set.
Orono Police Chief Correy Farniok says the department still has nine of its eleven vehicles, so they are still equipped to respond to calls in the city. But the chief says this case of arson is a waste of city resources.
"It's $100,000 to the city that was just wasted and destroyed," Farniok said.
This past June, vehicles at the Orono Police Department were vandalized. In fact, the same Tahoe that was burned Friday morning was spray painted and pelted with dead fish in that case.
