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Mystery woman lights Clearwater man's car on fire

Video shows woman setting fire and fanning flame
Posted at 11:25 PM, Aug 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 02:11:52-04

"I have no idea who she is, I've never seen her in my life," said Thomas Jennings.

Jennings is looking for answers tonight.

Who's the woman caught on surveillance video setting his car ablaze?

Jennings says he was woken up by a roommate Saturday morning to the chaos.

"He came running in the house telling me my car was on fire so we immediately ran out there," said Jennings. "He had a pot of water just trying to get it to go out but it was just too much."

Jennings quickly checked the security cameras surrounding his home.

It showed a young, well dressed African American girl, first checking out a parked Ford Explorer then making her way to Jennings' Honda Civic.

In the video the women is seen lighting the rear of the car on fire and appearing to fan the flames.

"She was throwing in some kind of paper or something like kindling to make the fire bigger, then she just walked off nonchalant and got on her bike and took off," said Jennings.

According to fire investigators, a rag was lit on fire and put in the gas tank causing the fire to quickly spread.  
They also believe the women was carrying some sort of flammable liquid in a beach bag determined to turn the car to ash.

"Everything was gone, I mean I lost so much stuff from diving equipment, I'm a chef, I lost a thousand dollar knife kit," said Jennings.

A sign now sits in the front yard offering a hefty $5000 reward to whoever turns the women in.

Investigators aren't sure if its a case of mistaken identity but for Jennings, who's out at least $5000 himself, one things for sure.

"It really is frustrating not knowing why or who," said Jennings. "I really hope she's caught."

If you have a tip that could lead to the women's arrest contact Clearwater Fire at 727-562-4334 ext-3048.