An arson investigation is underway after several cars were torched in Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood overnight, police confirmed to KTLA.  

Neighborhood residents who live between North Bunker Hill Avenue and Bartlett Street awoke at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday to flames engulfing several of their cars parked at the curb.  

“I get outside and it’s like the world is on fire,” Daniel Finnerty told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “The apocalypse is happening in my front yard.”  

Residents who spoke with KTLA said it’s not uncommon to come across scenes like this, random and destructive fires, but this time someone was targeting people’s cars.  

“You got a car down there in flames and then up a block, you just hear boom, and I assume it was a tire exploding,” Finnerty added. “It’s crazy stuff.”  

Unfortunately, Cecelia Martinez’s family car went up in the blaze.  

“My biggest fear was that the cars were going to explode because I had just put gas in my car,” she explained. “I don’t have a car right now. Yeah, insurance will pay, but what happens to all of the memories that we had in that car. It was our family car.”  

Thomas Conrad told KTLA that he believes the fires could be the work of someone living in a nearby homeless encampment.  

“Here we go again,” he said when asked what he thought of the situation. “It’s a thrill to commit crimes knowing you probably won’t get caught and if you do, you get the proverbial slap on the wrist.”  

Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department spent time at the scene collecting evidence, saying arson was to blame for the charred destruction left behind.  

“It’s not what they did,” Johana Martinez said. “It’s more about the car they took from us. It’s really going to hurt because they don’t know the sacrifices my parents made to actually get us that car that we were all comfortable in.”  

Anyone with information about the fire is urged to contact LAPD. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at www.lacrimestoppers.org 

A juvenile crashed a stolen car while being pursued by officers in Garden Grove, killing a 34-year-old man in the process, according to authorities.

Police said officers found a vehicle reported to be stolen in the area of Taft Street and Garden Grove Boulevard at 9:45 p.m. Saturday. When the officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver attempted to flee the scene by going southbound on Taft.

The driver then crashed into three other vehicles just about one-half mile south in the intersection of Taft and Trask Avenue. The driver, a juevenile, then attempted to flee the scene on foot before being caught and detained by police.

An unidentified passenger in the stolen vehicle successfully fled the scene, according to authorities. That person remains at large.

Two victims from the collision were transported to the hospital.

One of them, 34-year-old Kevin Luu of Garden Grove, was later pronounced dead. The other victim remains in critical condition.

The unidentified juvenile suspect was treated for minor injuries before being booked into Juvenile Hall.

Police did not immediately say what charges the suspect may face as a result of the incident. Drugs or alcohol are believed to be a factor, authorities said.

No additional details were immediately made available.

A driver hit and killed a woman in Riverside late Saturday night before fleeing the scene, according to authorities.

Riverside police responded to the area of Kansas Avenue and Roberta Street around 11:20 p.m. on reports of an unresponsive person lying in the middle of a street.

Medical personnel attempted life-saving measures, but the victim, identified only as a woman, was pronounced dead. Her identity will be released by coroners, pending notification of next of kin.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman was struck by a vehicle, which then fled the scene.

No other details, including any information regarding a potential suspect or vehicle description, were immediately made available.