In Flaming Vehicle, Woman Chases Arson Suspect in Woodbridge: Police

WOODBRIDGE, VA — A man who allegedly threatened a female acquaintance before setting her vehicle on fire and fleeing from the burning vehicle that actually gave chase early Monday morning was later caught and arrested by Prince William County Police.

Shirley Lorenzo Carter, 41, of 65 Clarks Lane in Stafford, was charged with attempted malicious wounding, and the Fire Marshal's Office charged him with arson.

A little after 1 a.m., police responded to investigate a domestic altercation at Dale Boulevard and Filarete Street. The victim, a 37-year-old woman of Wilkesboro, N.C., reported to police that she was asleep inside her parked vehicle when she woke to the accused standing next to her window.

She told police he made threats to the victim before setting her vehicle on fire. She tried to follow him in her vehicle while it was still on fire but stopped after it became engulfed in flames in the 3800 block of Cordell Avenue. She wasn't injured.

Following an investigation, police obtained an arrest warrant for the accused, who was eventually arrested following a vehicle stop on Jefferson Davis Highway in the Triangle area of the county.

Photo: Prince William County Police