San Francisco Blog

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An artist's rendition of San Francico's bizarre vehicular arson case. That artist is, of course, Jack Kirby.

How does a reported Monday-morning arson case in which a mysterious man toting a "box on fire" immolating an occupied car get any stranger? How about if the person who fled the burning vehicle for his life morphs into a pair of women and the whole thing becomes an accident? That sounds weirder -- and that's the official line now coming out of the San Francisco Police Department.

Here's the original SFPD description of this bizarre crime, as reported by SF Weekly on Monday:

ARSON: 100 block of 6th street. Victim is seated in a parked vehicle when victim sees suspect (BM 60) approach holding a "box on fire." Suspect throws lit box under victim's vehicle and runs away. Vehicle ignites and victim exits, runs away and calls 911. No injuries and arrests.

And here's the story now: Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka says the case now involves a pair of women who were sitting in a car at 12:36 a.m. on Monday morning in a seedy part of Sixth Street. They noticed a man walk by and kick a box that just happened to be on fire and just happened to get lodged beneath their car. A few minutes later, they smelled smoke and realized the front of their car was ablaze, prompting them to call 911. They believe the whole thing was an accident and have no idea who ignited the box that the unidentified man subsequently managed to boot beneath their vehicle.

Say what? "It is odd, eh?" confirms Tomioka.

No word yet on how a deliberate crime committed against one person involving the throwing of a "box on fire" beneath a car transformed into an accident involving the kicking of conveniently ablaze box beneath two people's car. More as it comes.