Arsonist targets U-Haul, torching woman's possessions before she can move into Detroit home
Homeowner loses everything in U-Haul fire
A U-Haul truck was set ablaze on Detroit’s west side. Now, a local woman’s belongings and lifetime memories are gone as she was preparing to move into her new home.
(FOX 2) - An Oak Park woman had just purchased a home in Detroit. Everything was signed off and she was ready to begin a new chapter as a new homeowner when she lost everything.
The U-Haul truck containing all her possessions had been parked outside her brother's home in Detroit and overnight, someone burned it to the ground.
Now she's left with a cast iron pan, a mattress and little else to fill her new home.
Big picture view:
Barbara Jones lost everything she owned after she took her U-Haul to her brother's home in Detroit. That was on June 6.
Then at 4 a.m., she received a phone call from her sister, who delivered the haunting news.
"My sister said ‘Barbara you just lost everything.’ So I’m like ‘what?’ She said ‘Barbara you just lost everything.’ So I got off the phone with her, I ran into my son's room and told him somebody just burnt up the U-Haul and burnt up all my stuff," she said.
The aftermath of the fire shows the remains of a lifetime of possessions and little else.
Ashes and broken items littered the floor of the destroyed truck.
What they're saying:
Video from a nearby home did show the moment someone ran up to the U-Haul, broke into the vehicle, and torched it.
Jones has no idea why.
"No. I just go to work and come home," she said when asked if she or her brother had issues with anyone.
"My brother don’t bother nobody. We don’t know who did this. They just came and blew up the truck. Why I don’t know. I want to know. But I don’t know. I lost everything I owned," she said.
"I’m sleeping on a blow-up mattress. Like, I don’t have nothing. What you see, this is what I got. My house don’t even feel like a home because the stuff that I had to bring in here is gone."
What's next:
Detroit police are investigating the incident as a case of arson. Anyone who knows anything is asked to call police at 313-596-2940.
If anyone would like to donate to help Jones, they can go to this link for more.
The Source: An interview with Barbara Jones was cited for this story.