A 19-year-old student from UMass Boston has been arrested on federal charges after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Cybertruck in Kansas City.
A 19-year-old student at a Boston college was arrested Friday for allegedly damaging two Cybertrucks and two charging stations at a Tesla dealership in Kansas City over spring break last month, federal authorities said.
Owen McIntire appeared in federal court in Boston Friday on charges of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce, according to the U.S. Justice Department, which recently launched a task force to investigate crimes against the electric car company.
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WATCH HEREOn March 17, McIntire allegedly lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it at a Cybertruck, and the fire spread to another of the vehicles. An unbroken Molotov cocktail, made from an apple cider vinegar bottle, was also found at the scene next to a burned rag, according to the criminal affidavit filed in court.
A driver shared video with NBC affiliate KSHB showing flames outside the dealership on State Line Road.
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SIGN UP Prosecutors said McIntire was ordered held ahead of a detention hearing next week. It wasn't immediately clear if McIntire had an attorney who could speak to the charges.
“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
Investigators didn't say what college McIntire attends, but UMass Boston shared a statement Friday acknowledging that FBI and ATF agents coordinated with campus police to arrest a student.
"Per its standard protocol, Campus Police reviewed and confirmed the agents were acting on an authorized warrant signed by a United States Magistrate Judge and accompanied them as they executed the warrant. The student was arrested without incident and is now in federal custody," the statement said.
