Bethesda Man Charged in Car Fires

Montgomery County police have arrested and charged a Bethesda man with setting fire to three vehicles in Bethesda.

Mansour Kouider Benkreira, 20, is charged with three counts of second-degree arson and one count of breaking and entering a motor vehicle.

Residents at two homes on Glenbrook Road and one home on Wessling Lane found their vehicles on fire in their driveways Wednesday morning.

"The flames were shooting up a few feet when it was on the driveway, but inside the car it was just smoldering," said Angela Zimmerman, whose 2012 Honda Odyssey suffered fire damage. Her husband, John Zimmerman, said he discovered the fire at 6 a.m. when he went outside to get the newspaper.

Surveillance video from a home security system showed two men walking up to a Range Rover at 7001 Glenbrook Road shortly before 6 a.m., according to charging documents. Police said the men opened the van's front doors and rummaged inside, before lighting items inside the car on fire, closing the doors and walking away.

Police said a neighborhood resident took a picture of two males walking around Wednesday morning and looking into vehicles which matched the suspects in the surveillance video. A detective identified Benkreira as a defendant from a previous case.

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