The suspect is identified as 19-year-old Owen McIntire of Parkville, Missouri, who was at home for spring break when the incident occurred on March 17, the New York Post reported on Friday.
An image shows the suspect in the case:
The student now faces federal charges, including a single count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device, and one count of malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce.
In a press release, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Public Affairs detailed the incident:
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, on March 17, at approximately 11:16 p.m., an officer with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department (KCMOPD) in the vicinity of the Kansas City (KC) Tesla Center observed smoke coming from a grey Cybertruck parked in the KC Tesla Center parking lot. The officer also observed an unbroken suspected incendiary device near the burning Cybertruck. KCMOPD recovered the unbroken incendiary device, also known as a Molotov cocktail. The fire spread from the Cybertruck to a second Cybertruck in the lot. The Kansas City Fire Department responded to the scene to extinguish the fire.
The Cybertrucks had sale prices of $105,485 and $107,485. Additionally, two charging stations were damaged by the fire, each of which is valued at approximately $550.
FBI Boston announced McIntire’s arrest on Friday and shared images of what appeared to be the devices used at the dealership and the suspect:
Meanwhile, journalist Andy Ngô said on Friday the suspect “appears to be trans” and allegedly wore women’s clothing during the incident on March 17:
In her statement on the case, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a clear warning: “Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
Bondi recently confirmed that an arrest was made in connection with a firebombing of a Tesla dealership in New Mexico and an attack on the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters, Breitbart News reported on Monday.
Law enforcement in Minneapolis recently arrested a suspect after several Tesla vandalism incidents that resulted in a whopping $20,000 worth of damage to the electric cars, per Breitbart News.
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