KEIZER, Ore. — Police say a man’s SUV was set on fire hours after he got into a confrontation with several people who objected to his removal of items from a Salem roadside memorial honoring three teens.
Detectives believe the fire was set intentionally and likely related to the confrontation, which happened Wednesday night.
The argument occurred on Salem Parkway and Cherry Avenue NE, the site of a memorial honoring three teens who were killed in a crash by a suspected DUII driver on June 2.
The man was in the process of removing items from the memorial in an attempt to clean it up, according to Keizer police. Friends and families of the teens objected to the man’s actions and an argument ensued, police said.
“He came and stripped the whole thing within 15 minutes," said Tammy Watt, the mother of one the deceased teens. "We had phone calls coming to us, things posted on Facebook, Salem crime that there's a man out there in a red truck taking the memorial down."
Watt was recording on her phone when she confronted the man before he left the memorial site.
“I asked him in the video what's your purpose? And he said, ‘I'm just removing garbage.’ And I let him know this isn't garbage, it's a memorial for our daughters who were murdered.”
Officers responded and determined the man had no lawful responsibility to dispose of the items. They also determined the memorial was not constructed in a way that endangered the public, police said.
The argument was defused and everyone went their separate ways, police said. Detectives don’t believe the man and the victims' friends and families knew each other prior to the confrontation.
Then early Thursday morning, shortly before 1:30 a.m., police received a report that a red 2008 Ford Explorer was set on fire in a driveway in the 4700 block of 18th Avenue NE in Keizer. The owner of the Explorer is the man who was removing the items from the memorial, police said.
A neighbor said his roommate heard an explosion and saw the car on fire.
"I came out and grabbed the hose and put the hose on it and the police showed up. It was only two or three minutes it was on the fire," said Mike Phelps.
Anyone with information about the suspected vehicle arson is asked to call Detective Tim Lathrop at 503-856-3481.