Reward Offered After Brockton Mayor's SUV Set On Fire

BROCKTON (CBS) – A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information on who set fire to the Brockton mayor's SUV.

Someone torched Mayor Bill Carpenter's city-owned 2015 Ford Explorer outside his home on Pearl Street late Friday night.

The SUV was parked about 15-to-20 feet away from the mayor's house. His family and neighbors said they heard an explosion around 11:30 p.m. The State Fire Marshal said the fire "self-extinguished" and the damage wasn't discovered until Saturday morning.

Carpenter was out of the country at the time, but his family was home. He came back to Brockton Wednesday.

"I think what's most upsetting to me is the impact on my family," the mayor told reporters Thursday.

"If someone was trying to get my attention they got it," Carpenter said.  "If we figure out who they are, they'll get a lot more of our attention."

Anyone with information is asked to call the arson hotline at 1-800-682-9229.

The Arson Watch Reward Program, which is funded by insurance underwriting companies, is offering the reward.