At approximately 2:20 a.m. on Christmas morning, 2012, a man was seen on a surveillance video smashing cars' windows and setting two on fire. Several classic Mustang cars at the Mustang Shop in Forney were the target for this late night arsonist's attack.
At approximately 2:20 a.m. on Christmas morning, 2012, a man was seen on a surveillance video smashing cars' windows and setting two on fire. Several classic Mustang cars at the Mustang Shop in Forney were the target for this late night arsonist's attack.
The surveillance video at the Mustang Shop captured the man smashing the windows on the cars in the parking lot, including a 1986 5.0 Mustang, 1997 Mustang GT, and a 1969 Mach I Mustang. The man then threw an accelerant into the window of the 1986 5.0 Mustang and lit it ablaze. After the '86 was engulfed in flames, the man did the same to the '69 Mach I.
The flames from the '86 quickly spread to the '97 Mustang parked behind it and, not long after, they were both completely destroyed. In addition, several nearby vehicles were damaged in the fire.
The owner of the Mustang Shop, Gerald Gauthier, said he wasn't notified of the fires until early on Christmas morning when a neighboring shop owner called him. Gauthier arrived at the shop around the same time as the Forney Police Department and was shocked at the amount of destruction.
Gauthier and his wife moved to Forney in February 2007, and opened the Mustang Shop shortly thereafter. Gauthier has been restoring Mustangs since 1987 and has seen the ups and downs of the restoration market. Gauthier said small things have been taken from the shop before but he has never seen anything like this. Gauthier described it as a “complete devastation.”
To make matters worse, the vehicles parked on the outside of his building were not insured. Two of the vehicles destroyed by the fire belonged to a customer and the other was his own. Guthier believes he may be able to salvage the '69 Mach I Mustang, but the two others are “complete losses.” In all, approximately ten windows were smashed, three vehicles were completely destroyed, and three other vehicles were affectedby the fire. Based on the time stamps on the surveillance video, the suspect was at the scene for approximately twenty-five minutes.
Because of the ongoing investigation, the Forney Fire Department and Fire Marshal are unable to release any other information at this time. Continue to follow this story and more on inForney.com. Scroll below to see the full photo gallery!
