Car Mechanic Arrested

A car mechanic in Loja has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after allegedly installing an incendiary device in a client’s car.

The accused is said to have installed this simple device in the rear part of a customer’s car.

It comprised of two small bottles of petrol, matches, the striker pad from a box of matches and a piece of string: the other end of the string was attached to the rear wheel, so that when the car moved of, the string went taut, pulling the match heads over the striker pad.

The intended victim, a woman from Loja, used the car to take her daughter to a kindergarten. She had only covered a few hundred metres when she noticed the smell of burning and looking in the rear-view mirror, saw flames coming from the rear of the vehicle.

She managed to put the fire out with the car’s fire extinguisher.

A police inspection of the vehicle turned up two bottles taped to the back of the rear bumper, both with petrol residue.

The Judicial Police of the Guardia Civil took over the investigation, looking into the family and work relations of the victim. Amongst the people interviewed was the said mechanic.
During a session of questioning he caved in and confessed that he had planted the device.

The reason? He had been working on the car, on and off, for three years, trying to fix a fault with 2nd-hand parts – the owner would never let him use new replacement parts, so he got fed up and decided to burn the car, although he said it was never his intention to cause personal harm.

(News: Loja, Poniente de Granada, Andalucia)

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