Lorton House Catches Fire As Stolen BMW Crashes Into Transformer Box

LORTON, VA — A man who drove a stolen BMW into an electrical transformer box in front of a house in Lorton early Thursday morning, causing the house to catch on fire, remains at large, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The incident started around 4:40 a.m. when police received a report of a man stealing from vehicles in the neighborhood. As they were looking for the suspect, officers on foot found a man inside a vehicle.

The officers ordered him to get out of the vehicle, which was described a BMW that was determined to be stolen from the Lorton neighborhood, FCPD Lieutenant James Curry said at a press briefing outside the home.

Instead of getting out of the vehicle, the suspect sped away and crashed into an electrical transformer box, causing the house fire in the 8400 block of Whiteheaven Court in Lorton. The police officers followed the vehicle on foot and then worked to make sure the residents inside the house were safely evacuated.

The two adults and three juveniles inside the house at the time of the fire were not injured, Curry said. The crash damage to the transformer box caused houses in the neighborhood to lose power.

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department also responded to put out the house fire in Lorton, he said.

The officers then set up a perimeter in the neighborhood to try to find the suspect. Police described the suspect as a Black man in his 20s or 30s, who was wearing dark clothing and a surgical mask.

“We have no doubt there’s a lot of surveillance footage,” Curry said, noting the number of houses in the neighborhood that may have security cameras.

If police are able to get an image of the suspect, they will be sharing it with the community to help identify him.

"No vehicle pursuit sparked this," Curry emphasized. "Officers were doing what they are trained to do — approaching on foot, trying to make a tactical approach to find this man." By speeding off in the stolen vehicle, the suspect's actions led to the crash and fire, he said.

Because Whitehaven Court was closed due to the fire and police investigation, Fairfax County Public School buses picked up students a couple blocks away at Fifth Place and Dixon Street, police said.

Neighbors can submit any video footage to the FCPD through the Ring neighbors app to help police identify the suspect, Curry said.