American Flags In Front Yard Used To Light Car On Fire

http://www.channelcincinnati.com/news/4762625/detail.html

SPRINGDALE, Ohio -- Less than 24 hours after an Ohio soldier was buried, someone pulled up 20 American flags from his father-in-law's front yard and set fire to them under a car in the driveway, according to WLWT-TV in Cincinnati.

FAIRFIELD — The morning after the funeral of fallen Army Pfc. Tim Hines, American flags were stolen and used to set fire to a car owned by his sister-in-law, according to Fairfield police.

No one was injured and no suspects have been arrested in connection with the Saturday morning arson, police said.

Still awake after his son-in-law’s funeral Friday, Jim Wessel heard a loud car horn and his eldest daughter, Sara, yelling that her car was on fire at about 5:30 a.m., he said. His wife, Kathy Wessel, immediately called 911.

“I grabbed the water hose attempting to dowse the flames,” he said. “The whole front end of the car was engulfed.”

It was the end of the quiet day he had hoped for — a day of peace after a draining week for his family and particularly Katy Hines, his daughter and the widow of Tim Hines. Katy Hines is the mother of Tim Hines’ two-year-old daughter, Lily, and is nearly nine months pregnant with their son, Noah.

Tim Hines, 21, died July 14 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was hospitalized after a bomb detonated near his three-vehicle convoy along a Baghdad highway on Father’s Day. He spent a month recovering, making slow progress before his heart failed.

At 5:35 a.m., Fairfield firefighters and police were dispatched to the home at 898 Sando Drive. The fire was quickly controlled, but the insured car was burned beyond repair.

Arson investigators determined flags that had lined the property of the family and neighbors were taken, stuffed under the vehicle and set on fire, police said. Police took the car and other items for evidence, Jim Wessel said.

http://www.journal-news.com/news/content/news/stories/2005/07/24/hjn0724arson_web.html