On Thursday, Antioch Police released surveillance video of a male performing a hate crime and throwing multiple Molotov cocktails at a home in the 5100 block of McCormick Court.
“As you will see, the quality of the video is not very good and identification of this person will be difficult at best. However, we remain optimistic and are hopeful someone can help us,” said Antioch Police Captain Tammany Brooks.
The incident occurred on September 7 at approximately 3:12 am.
Police said there was no additional information being provided at this time as detectives are continuing to follow up on the case and leads.
Anyone who might have information on this case to please contact Detective Allendorph at (925) 779-6933, or text CRIMES (274637) with the keyword ANTIOCH to remain anonymous.
Yesterdays Press Releases
On September 7 at approximately 3:12 am, the Antioch Police Department received a call of a house fire at a residence in the 5100 block of McCormick Court.
Officers determined that an unknown responsible spray painted a racial slur and a swastika on the victim’s residence.
The responsible also threw Molotov cocktails at the residence, catching the roof and bushes on fire. Damage to the residence was minimal and no one was injured.
The case is still under investigation and no other information was provided at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Antioch Police Department. You may also text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH
11:15 am Update
Information provided by Chief Allan Cantando and Contra Costa County Fire investigator Vic Massenkoff.
The Antioch Police Department is treating this incident extremely serious,” said Cantando. “The members of this police department including myself and community are appalled and disgusted by this incident. Currently we have multiple investigators assigned and working with Contra Costa Fire.”
This morning, Cantando says he visited the family and said he was sorry. He further explained to the family that the city of Antioch will be putting a lot of resources to putting the perpetrators to justice.
“This is a case we are going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” said Cantando.
Police are currently looking into whether or not the home was targeted. They are also looking for more surveillance from neighboring cameras in the area.
According to the homeowner, she described the male as a Caucasian male
Vic Massenkoff, fire investigator said the fire had major deadly potential.
“First off, the fire was set in the middle of the night when the occupants are sound asleep. So the detection of the fire would be delayed creating greater danger. The Molotov cocktails was an ignitable substance similar to gasoline were ignited in a way that the potential intent was to block any emergency egress by the occupants,” explained Massenkoff. “Several devices were deployed against the house at the front door, second story bedroom and near the garage door. Fortunately the occupants woke up and took action using water from the home, garden hose to quickly control part of the fire.”
Massenkoff said there was damage to the structure and the potential for a deadly outcome was very high. He called the incident intentional.
“The homeowners were extremely lucky in this horrible crime. It’s a very fortunate family,” said Massenkoff saying the responsible could face attempted murder charges.
Cantando says its been a long time since the city of Antioch has experienced a hate crime calling this morning’s incident the first one in a while that he could remember. Inside the home were 3-adults and 4-young children under 7-years-old.
When asked if the community should be worried if this could happen to other minority families. Cantando explained that he believed it was an isolated incident and that he has already reached out to the NAACP alerting them to the incident—he says they were grateful.
“These incidents can happen in any community and we are putting a lot of resources to bringing the perpetrator to justice,” says Cantando who is treating it as a hate crime.
Check back for updates.
3 comments
Sorry son of a Bitch. Hate to see others doing better than him.
How did the homeowner claim this person is a white male? due to the poor quality of the video, I can’t tell whether he/she is white, black, yellow, purple, pink, or blue.
I wonder why out of all the houses in Antioch, they were targeted?
The video is rough, but you can see motion and outline of the figure. The person is agile in that the motion to stop, turn, reach down, and throw the last cocktail. The person is projecting almost shoulder length hair. The person is wearing board shorts that fall at the knee. The person is wearing a polo due to the longer length short sleeves. The person is wearing crew socks. The person is right handed. The person has committed one of the most heinous crimes upon another.
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