ARSONS SUSPECTED IN RECENT FIRE

Owners of a Cape Girardeau car dealership might be looking for new location after a burglary and arson destroyed their office.

Vehicles from West Park Motors at 3427 William St. were being moved to another dealership on Thursday after their office was gutted by a fire late Tuesday, said Tom Wilson, co-owner of the car lot.

"Everything in the office is either water soaked or burned up," Wilson said. "At this point, it's just a bad dream."

Smoke coming from the dealership's office was reported to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department at 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday, said Butch Lufcy, battalion chief. When firefighters arrived, they discovered fires in the sales office, bathroom and a storage room in the small building. Using water from one hose, the fire was put out by 9:20 p.m., Lufcy said.

Police officer Randy Zimmerman arrived at the scene just before the firefighters, and found a door to the office open.

At approximately the same time, two police officers discovered two cars with fire damage in the 2700 block of south Sprigg Street, Cpl. Kevin Orr said. Rick Price and Brian Boyd reported finding a 1998 GMC Yukon sports utility vehicle and a 1997 Dodge van pulled off to the side of the road just south of Lone Star Industries. The van had already suffered extensive fire damage, and the Yukon was still burning, Orr said.

Both of the cars had been stolen from West Park Motors, police said.

Between the vehicles police found a safe, which also belonged to the car dealership.

As a result of the fires, police are investigating at least four crimes: arson, burglary, stealing and knowingly burning.

Prior to this week, West Park Motors experienced one fire in nearly seven years of operations, Wilson said. About six months after opening in 1994, a neon window sign fell and started an office fire. It was later determined that the sign had been improperly installed, he said.

Wilson is positive that Tuesday's fire was not an accident.

"It was probably some guys out looking for some kind of thrill," he said.

The dealership's general manager, Jay Teague, had returned to the office about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday to return a car, Wilson said. Teague told his employer that when he went inside, lights were on and keys were on a desk, which was unusual. Teague and the others left at 8:30 p.m., Wilson said.

"Whoever did this was probably still in the office while he was there," Wilson said.

Vehicles from West Park Motors have been moved to Sparkman Auto Sales near Cape Girardeau Regional Airport temporarily. The dealership's owner, Greg Sparkman, is co-owner of West Park Motors with Wilson.

No damage estimates have yet been made, but Wilson said he considers all equipment inside the office a total loss.

ARSONS IN CAPE GIRARDEAU

1995 - 2

1996 - 6

1997 - 4

1998 - 30

1999 - 14

Note: Prior to 1998, only intentional fires set at homes or businesses were labeled arson, police said. Now all intentional fires are considered arson.