The Rohnert Park arsonist, or arsonists, strike in the dead of night, setting fire to cars parked on a quiet street and, with each successive incident, leave residents more rattled.
"It is getting a little more frightening," said Michelle Cohen, a Camino Coronado resident whose family lost two vehicles to arson fires in February.
She spoke Friday, about 15 hours after another early morning arson fire left a Saturn Vue destroyed a few houses away. It was the seventh car burned since February on the street.
"We're kind of thinking that maybe this guy's going to get tired of doing cars and maybe start doing houses," she said. "I don't know why he's targeting our street."
Neither do investigators.
"We don't have any substantive leads at this time," said Rohnert Park Public Safety Director Brian Masterson. "For whatever reasons they're targeting that neighborhood and randomly picking vehicles."
Police patrols have been increased, he said, and Friday morning, officers and firefighters again canvassed residents seeking clues.
"I understand people being anxious, being upset, being scared," he said. "I certainly would be if I lived in that neighborhood, and we're doing everything we can to catch the person or persons responsible."
The arsons have given rise to a number of theories among residents of the street, which curves from Southwest Boulevard to Country Club Drive, half a mile from Sonoma State University.
"I think he's sitting there and he's probably watching his work," Cahoon said.
A man named Loren, who didn't want to give his last name because he was afraid he would targeted, said, "My own suspicion is this is a gang-related thing, like a gang initiation thing."
George Driskill, whose son's Volkswagon beetle was torched in May, said he suspects it was somebody young. "I just think somebody is doing this stupid thing and they're thrilled by it."
"We're walking the street and we're praying for our street," said Driskill, who identified himself as a born-again Christian.
The fires have taken place on three occasions. Four cars were burned in one February night, two more on a May night, and the one Friday morning.
Some residents say they wish they had a better sense of what the police have learned.
"I think they're doing what they can but it's frustrating not knowing if they've got any leads or anything, because we sit here and look out the window and we don't see any activity at all until there's a fire," Cahoon said.
"They're not talking to the public, they're not telling us anything," said the man named Loren. "They're not telling us what they know. It's, &‘Oh yeah, another car burned up on our street.'"
Masterson said investigators are doing all they can but arson is a tough crime to solve.
Nothing is stolen in arsons, he said, so nothing ends up being sold or disposed of, limiting potential leads. And fires also tend to destroy evidence that may have been left behind.
"By the time they set the fire and it takes hold in the car and someone sees it, it's going to be minutes until we get that call, and it gives them time to get out of the area," he said.
Cahoon said she has installed cameras to monitor the front of her home and that several neighbors are doing the same.
Masterson said that can be useful. He also suggested that people leave their porch lights on at night.
Driskill, an optimist, said there has been an upside to the otherwise alarming events.
"It's hard," he said, "but I don't know, the good thing is that people are getting to know each other, neighbors that don't know each other are getting to know each other."
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