- The unidentified man threw Molotov cocktails at three Tesla chargers in South Carolina.
- As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made in the case by North Charleston Police.
- Earlier this month, Tesla was forced to repair a Supercharger station in Massachusetts.
Attacks on Tesla vehicles and chargers seem to be getting more and more common. Less than a week after seven stalls at a Supercharger station in Massachusetts were torched, a further three have been burned, this time in South Carolina. However, the attacker in this case got an unpleasant surprise when he apparently set his clothes on fire.
According to the North Charleston Police, the man began his attack by spray-painting ‘Long Live the Ukraine’ and a crude message directed at President Donald Trump. He then threw flaming beer bottles, which seemed to be homemade Molotov cocktails, at the charging stations.
Read: 7 Tesla Supercharger Stations Torched In Massachusetts Raising Alarms Over Arson Attacks
Local authorities say that while the man was throwing these bottles, the clothes on his back caught fire. According to witnesses, the individual then quickly ran from the parking lot.
Further details on the attack are limited, but North Charleston Police spokesperson Harve Jacobs told the Associated Press that no arrests had been made as of Tuesday. He also said the investigation had been handed over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fire crews attended the scene and doused the flames, but it’s unclear how bad the damage was.
In the case of the high-profile arson attack on a Supercharger location in Littleton, Massachusetts, earlier this month, Tesla said it would repair the facility in less than 48 hours. It hasn’t commented on how quickly this site in South Carolina will be fixed, but it’ll likely also want to get it back up and running as soon as possible.
Elon Musk’s dive into politics and significant presence within the Trump administration has turned many against Tesla, and attacks against the automaker aren’t just happening in the United States. At the start of March, eight Tesla vehicles were torched at a dealership in France, causing over $730,000 in damage.
