Trending Topics

Man torches Tesla chargers in S.C., sets himself on fire

A man set Tesla chargers on fire at a North Charleston mall, spray-painted political messages and accidentally ignited his own clothes before fleeing

Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A man burned three Tesla chargers in a South Carolina parking lot and also apparently inadvertently set his clothes on fire, police said.

The man spray-painted “long live the Ukraine” and a crude reference to President Donald Trump on the pavement next to the charging stations Friday near an outlet mall in North Charleston, according to a report from the North Charleston Police.

The man then ignited an unidentified material stuffed into beer bottles and began to throw the bottles at the stations, police said. While doing so he caught the clothes on his back on fire, then ran from the parking lot, witnesses told police.

No arrests have been made, North Charleston Police spokesperson Harve Jacobs said Tuesday. The agency turned the investigation over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Investigators collected the beer bottles while firefighters cut the power to the chargers and put out the blaze.


Authorities are investigating a fire at a Tesla charging station in Littleton, amid rising tensions over anti-DOGE protests and vandalism targeting Tesla properties
Trending
The firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Forest Service and were part of an interagency response to the Knowles and Gore fires
Emily Barker, Nick Hutcherson and Sydney Watson were conducting initial attack operations on the Knowles Fire when rapidly spreading flames cut off their escape routes
A day after three firefighters were killed in a burnover, hot, dry and windy conditions continued fueling dangerous wildfire growth across the West
An Alabama volunteer firefighter returned to finishing the mowing so the recovering resident and her family had one less thing to worry about