OREGON CITY, Ore. — Oregon City police arrested a woman they say set a car on fire at the Lithia Subaru Dealership on Main Street.
Police say the woman was caught on security cameras around 4 a.m. Thursday. She was arrested a short time later, just two blocks away. Police said the clothing she was wearing matched the clothing in the security video.
In the video, you can see the woman lean down under the car. She does not stay long though because the dealership’s cameras are monitored and the security team told her to leave on the loudspeaker.
However, once she is gone, you can start to see smoke under the car. Eventually, the whole thing catches on fire.
An Oregon City police officer was the first to respond because he was in the area and heard an explosion.
Sales manager Cory Flay said this is not the first time this has happened. He said someone set one of their cars on fire roughly two years ago. They have also had ongoing problems with theft and vandalism.
“It's definitely getting worse,” Flay said. “We've had vehicles stolen off of our front sales line. We've had to come up with new measures where we don't have keys in certain locations because they've found new ways to break into cars, we've had transients sleeping in cars.”
Police charged 36-year-old Jessie Miskill with arson, criminal mischief, and possession of methamphetamine.
A check of her criminal history shows a long list of past charges, including a case from October when she was charged with trespassing at the same car dealership. The manager said they also had to ask her to leave the property just last week.
“It’s hard to put it into context...there's nothing really gained by doing anything like this besides destroying somebody else's property,” Flay said.
The car that was set on fire belongs to a customer who brought it in for maintenance. Another customer’s car parked next to it was also damaged.