Hodge, the proprietor of Bernard’s Variety Store, and his wife were awakened around 4am Wednesday by the sound of his car alarm. On investigating, he saw the car’s bonnet engulfed in flames at his 2785 Central Amelia’s Ward home.
The man told Stabroek News that he, his wife and a neighbour quickly put out the fire and summoned the police, who discovered the bottle of gasoline. He said he believed that the perpetrator had intended to torch his house but was forced to abandon their mission after the heat sensor on the front of the house went off. “I think they were targeting the house and after the alarm went off they drop deh bottle and it land on deh car,” he said.
A neighbour said that there were fresh, unfamiliar footprints in his yard, which led him to believe that the would-be arsonist may have been hiding in his yard or in or around a truck.
Hodge said that he has already taken steps to repair his vehicle, the cost of which has amounted to over $100,000. He said too he is currently working on strategies to guard against any recurrence.
Meanwhile, police have asked anyone with information about the incident to make a report in the interest of justice.
The incident occurred a short distance from where gunmen shot a Church of Christ pastor, robbed a home and several persons who were traversing the Central Amelia’s Ward road. It was the same community where members of a Community Policing Group had apprehended and allegedly beaten a man who was believed to be behaving suspiciously in the area. To date police have not made any positive arrests in relation to the series of robberies.
