Arsonist Sets Fire to Fla. Police Cruiser in Synagogue’s Parking Lot

Jan. 14, 2022
Lauderhill police officers and Broward County sheriff's deputies arrested a 21-year-old man after he allegedly started a fire that consumed a patrol car parked at a synagogue.

By Robin Webb

Source South Florida Sun-Sentinel

A man has been arrested for setting a police cruiser on fire outside a Lauderhill synagogue late Wednesday night, officials said.

Brian Bocage, 21, was identified, located, and arrested late Thursday night, according to Lauderhill police, which said it received assistance from the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

Lauderhill police responded to a synagogue in the predawn hours Thursday after a report of a car on fire in its parking lot.

The fire was set shortly before midnight Wednesday at the Synagogue of the Inverarry, at 6700 NW 44th St., according to Lauderhill police. The car that was burned was a marked Lauderhill police cruiser that was placed there to deter potential crimes after a vandalism incident at the synagogue earlier this month.

Police said the cruiser was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. Lauderhill Fire Rescue extinguished the fire.

Police said a man wearing dark hoodie, dark pants and light sneakers poured a substance on the cruiser and set it on fire. The cruiser is a total loss.

No one was inside the cruiser and no damage was done to the synagogue.

Bocage is charged with second-degree arson and criminal mischief.

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