Two police cars from two separate departments were set ablaze last night in North Miami-Dade while parked out front of the officers' homes just blocks from each other.
Police believe that the acts were intentional and both were set by the same person or group of people.
Police first arrived on the scene at Ives Dairy Road and NE 206th Street at 5:30 a.m. this morning to find a Hallandale Beach Police cruiser on fire. CBS Miami identified the home as belonging to Officer Sunny Parker, who was asleep inside with his family at the time.
"Around 5:30ish I heard loud bang and saw through the blinds the car engulfed in flames," he told the station.
Shortly after, police found a charred Miami-Dade Police cruiser in the driveway of another home just blocks away. Police believe that that car had been set on fire first.
The damaged to the Hallandale car is estimated to be $23,000, while the Miami-Dade car suffered about $28,000 worth of damage.
Police say that two Miami-Dade Police cars were also shot at overnight when no one was inside them in recent months as well, but that occurred in southern part of the county. One incident happened in front of a female officer's home in Southeast Miami-Dade in January.; another car was shot up in Cutler Bay in February. Police are not saying those incidents are necessarily related to these.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
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