A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday in connection with several vehicle fires near a Roseville park in October, according to the police department. Roseville police said officers were dispatched just after midnight when a caller near Angus Road reported hearing a loud bang coming from their vehicle and seeing a figure next to it. The caller could see a flame coming from inside their vehicle and a window broken out.”It was just seeing the fire, hearing the pops. I didn’t know what was going to explode and catch another car on fire. I mean, it was such a scary moment,” said Soraiya Smida.Soraiya Smida told KCRA 3 that her husband Pat Smida’s Tesla was the car that was set on fire early Thursday morning. Smida added that he has only had the car for three months. Officials said officers were able to catch the suspect as he was running away. Roseville police said investigators carried out a search warrant at the teenager’s residence and found evidence connecting him to five vehicle arsons over 10 days. The series of arsons began on Oct. 13 and all occurred near Bill Hughes Park and were within walking distance of each other.KCRA spoke to Anthony Savio, another arson victim. His BMW was set on fire on Oct. 19.”I heard a bunch of pops that sound really similar to the truck that caught on fire earlier on my street. I looked down, and all you could see was smoke, and I’m the only car that was parked there. My roommates were real quick, and I was like, ‘Oh, my car is on fire.’ And then I ran outside and we called the cops, and they came, and they actually said that my car was the second car that got lit that night within like 20 minutes,” said Savio. Savio is now left footing the bill for a new car. He told KCRA that the car wasn’t insured and he was getting ready to move to Los Angeles this month.”You ruined people’s lives. I mean, you’re too young to know what’s going on, but these are literally people’s things, especially in these tough times in people’s lives, you know? And you ruined them. That poor guy, who had his car almost paid off, had no insurance and lost it all. I mean, this didn’t have to happen,” said Pat Smida.The 16-year-old boy was booked into Placer County Juvenile Hall for arson. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday in connection with several vehicle fires near a Roseville park in October, according to the police department.
Roseville police said officers were dispatched just after midnight when a caller near Angus Road reported hearing a loud bang coming from their vehicle and seeing a figure next to it. The caller could see a flame coming from inside their vehicle and a window broken out.
“It was just seeing the fire, hearing the pops. I didn’t know what was going to explode and catch another car on fire. I mean, it was such a scary moment,” said Soraiya Smida.
Soraiya Smida told KCRA 3 that her husband Pat Smida’s Tesla was the car that was set on fire early Thursday morning. Smida added that he has only had the car for three months.
Officials said officers were able to catch the suspect as he was running away.
Roseville police said investigators carried out a search warrant at the teenager’s residence and found evidence connecting him to five vehicle arsons over 10 days. The series of arsons began on Oct. 13 and all occurred near Bill Hughes Park and were within walking distance of each other.
KCRA spoke to Anthony Savio, another arson victim. His BMW was set on fire on Oct. 19.
“I heard a bunch of pops that sound really similar to the truck that caught on fire earlier on my street. I looked down, and all you could see was smoke, and I’m the only car that was parked there. My roommates were real quick, and I was like, ‘Oh, my car is on fire.’ And then I ran outside and we called the cops, and they came, and they actually said that my car was the second car that got lit that night within like 20 minutes,” said Savio.
Savio is now left footing the bill for a new car. He told KCRA that the car wasn’t insured and he was getting ready to move to Los Angeles this month.
“You ruined people’s lives. I mean, you’re too young to know what’s going on, but these are literally people’s things, especially in these tough times in people’s lives, you know? And you ruined them. That poor guy, who had his car almost paid off, had no insurance and lost it all. I mean, this didn’t have to happen,” said Pat Smida.
The 16-year-old boy was booked into Placer County Juvenile Hall for arson.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel









