A 19-year-old college student is facing charges related to an incident at a Tesla Center in Kansas City in which two Cybertrucks were set on fire in March, according to the Department of Justice.
Owen McIntire, a Kansas City resident who is attending school in Boston, has been charged with unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce.
The incident took place just before noon on March 17 when a Kansas City Police Department officer observed smoke coming from the Tesla Center in the southern part of the city.
The DOJ said that the officer responded to the scene and found an "unbroken suspected incendiary device" near a burning Cybertruck. It turned out to be a Molotov cocktail, according to the DOJ.
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The fire spread to a second truck at the Tesla Center before the Kansas City Fire Department extinguished the blaze.
According to court documents, investigators observed a vehicle in surveillance videos from the Tesla Center and nearby homes and determined the car was registered to a relative of McIntire.
Investigators said they believe McIntire was back in Kansas City on spring break when the arson took place, based on alleged GPS information from his cellphone, his social media, flight records and the lack of badge scans on his campus during the time period.
The DOJ said the Cybertrucks had sale prices of $105,485 and $107,485. Two charging stations were also damaged by the fire, both valued at approximately $550.
“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
“This is the second arrest this week of a suspect charged with targeting Tesla, more proof that the FBI will not stand for these destructive acts,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement.
