Four tow trucks were burned in the East Bay early Saturday morning. At least two of those fires are being investigated as arson. Alyssa Goard reports.
Four tow trucks were burned in the East Bay early Saturday morning. At least two of those fires are being investigated as arson.
A local towing company said that all four of those trucks belong to their fleet.
On Summerfield Drive in Bay Point, one homeowner's Ring camera captured a video at around 2 a.m. of a person running away from the tow truck parked outside their home, right before the tow truck burst into flames. In the video, the person who ran away and several others can be seen getting into a white SUV that sped off.
The homeowners in Bay Point, who did not want to be identified, said the tow truck belongs to them and is part of their livelihood. The truck is now totaled, the interior was destroyed in the fire and the exterior is charred.
The homeowners said that another truck from the same fleet, which was also parked in Bay Point, and two more from the same fleet in Concord were lit on fire around the same time Saturday morning.
Adan Ledesma of Concord owns the towing company called California Towing. He woke up early Saturday morning to police knocking on his door telling him his tow trucks were on fire.
"It's like seven to eight years of hard work just goes like --disappears, you know," he said, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Ledesma said that through a group chat, he realized that two of the other trucks in his fleet had been burned as well.
The two tow trucks parked outside Ledesma's residence in Concord are totaled, with burned fiberglass and melted car parts scattered all around.
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Ledesma is very worried about how to move forward after this fire, he says his towing business is how he feeds his family. He also believes that these fires were targeted.
"I hope the police find out who did it so that they can go to jail or do something about it," Ledesma said.
Concord Police tell NBC Bay Area they were called to the Concord tow truck fires at around 2:17 a.m. and they are investigating the fires as arson.
NBC Bay Area Reached out to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office about the fires in Bay Point, but did not hear back.
The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said their crews responded to the Concord fires and the Bay Point fire on Summerfield Drive.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about these fires to get in touch with them.
