A car fire next to Southwest Recreation Center and the Harn Museum left one man in jail and another without a ride.
Police said the fire began inside the car around 8:45 p.m., shortly before it pulled off of Southwest 34th Street onto Museum Road. Minutes later, it burst into flames.
“The car was fully engulfed,” said University Police Sgt. Michael Metz.
Police said Anthony Mizzell, 39, of Ocala, fled the scene of a minor accident at the Kangaroo gas station on Southwest 34th Street and Southwest 35th Place minutes before the fire began. Somewhere between the gas station and Museum Road, a fire started inside the Volkswagen.
Mizzell pulled off Southwest 34th Street onto Museum Road and got out of the car, leaving it in the middle of the road. His passenger, an unidentified male, got out seconds later.
The car began to roll downhill before resting against a gated area that housed a diesel tank.
Kasey Metzler, a 19-year-old event management sophomore, said she saw a small fire in the backseat of the car while she was playing intramural sand volleyball at Southwest Rec. She said after the car came to a stop, it erupted into flames.
She said she could hear the sounds of popping glass and screeching metal while the car burned.
“It was crazy,” she said. “This doesn’t happen every day.”
Mizzell has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage for the hit-and-run.
Contact Shelby Webb at swebb@alligator.org.
