Police capture Budapest car arsonist

Police early Monday morning captured a 35-year-old man suspected of setting 19 cars on fire on Csepel Island since September 22, including seven last Friday night. The suspect has been under psychiatric care for ten years.

He was captured as he was riding a bicycle and resisted police when they asked for his ID. After subduing him, police found petroleum in a nylon sack, along with several strips of rags.

He confessed to setting the 19 cars ablaze, saying that he had set fire to eight cars at random and the blazes had spread to a further 11 vehicles. The total damage caused by the fires exceeds Ft 34 million.

The suspect said he had set the cars on fire because he has had a difficult life since a fire broke out at his house six years ago, and others should not have it better than he.

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