French revelers and scammers torched 940 vehicles over New Year's Eve. That's down by either 12 percent or 21 percent from last year, depending on which numbers you go with: the French Interior Ministry said there were 1,193 blazing bolides last year, other outlets say the number was 'just' 1,067.
Just because the French government stopped divulging the number of cars set on fire during New Year's Eve doesn't mean French youth have stopped enjoying the pastime. In 2009, the year before Nicolas Sarkozy took control of Elysées Palace, there were 1,147 cars burned on NYE. This year, the new government of François Hollande – a proponent of transparency in such matters – reports that there were 1,193 cars flambéed a few nights ago.
Two Pennsylvanians recently found themselves in trouble with the law after vandalizing a 2006 Ford Fusion in a decidedly inventive manner. Patricia and Quentin Deshong, 25 and 22, respectively, are staring down the barrel of charges ranging from attempted arson to public drunkenness, criminal mischief and making terrorist threats. The Deshongs reportedly broke or cracked multiple windows in the vehicle, ripped various hoses from the engine bay a
The BBC reports that a man has been arrested in connection with over 100 vehicle fires in Berlin. Police have indicated that an unemployed 27-year-old took to arson in response to his own debts and jealousy toward individuals with luxury cars. The suspect set fire to a total of 67 vehicles over a span of three months, with an additional 35 cars caught fire
Berlin is facing a rash of vehicle arson this year with more than 320 vehicles set ablaze in 2011 so far. Authorities claim that at least 140 of those incidents have been politically motivated, with the arsonists leaving notes at the scene. Those crimes have targeted luxury makes like BMW and Mercedes-Benz
With each passing day bringing more tough news about the state of the car companies and the plight of the autoworker, it's sometimes easy to overlook the effect that all of this economic gulag is having on mom-and-pop dealerships across the country. Bringing that idea into stark focus is news that Gregory Graham, a Pennsylvania car dealer recently died of a heart attack while torching cars at his own ailing dealership.
French youth like to burn cars on New Year's - and they don't mind lighting a few the rest of the year, either. German youths apparently really get their "arson on" when the economy takes a dip, as it happens to be doing right now. According to Bloomberg, at least 29 luxury vehicles have gone up in flames in Berlin so far this year, instigated by "'youths across Europe who 'perceive their future as
Throughout France on New Year's Eve, 1,147 cars met crispy deaths at the hands of arsonists. That's almost 300 cars more than the previous year.
Yesterday a fire destroyed a barn at Hill End Farm in High Street, Sandridge in which props were stored for our favorite auto show from the UK, Top Gear. The free standing structure stored grain on one side, but the other was rented out by the BBC to house various prop
