Seven cars burn in Live Oak parking lot, deputies investigate as suspicious

The Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate a suspicious car fire in Santa Cruz Monday morning. Investigators believe it could be a case of someone trying to cover their tracks.

The fire started in the parking lot of Redwood Auto Center on Soquel Drive.

Deputies said it appears one car, a Jeep, was set on fire and the flames spread and damaged six more cars.

Deputies are trying to track down the owner of the Jeep, but the car is missing its license plates. Investigators also added the VIN number is not readable.

During the investigation, deputies found that several of the 50 or 60 cars in the lot were broken into, as well as a kiosk associated with one of the auto center businesses.

News Channel 5 talked with a mechanic who works in the auto center. He said he’s never seen anything like this.

“Been kind of shocking… just to drive in and see this,” DMV Auto Clinic’s Patrick Hughes said. “So yeah, this is the first time I’ve seen this here, and I’ve been here for a little more than three years.”

Deputies are currently working on getting an estimate of the damage. Unfortunately, it appears none of the businesses caught what happened on video.