Fire bomb thrown through window of city commissioner’s residence

At about 11:00 p.m. last night, the occupied residence of City Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline was fire-bombed according to a report received by Historic City News today. Nancy and Roger Sikes-Kline, their son and four of his friends were inside the home.

Police are reporting that the incendiary device, a crude Molotov cocktail, was thrown through the son’s bedroom window, burning a hole in the window shade. The flaming Snapple bottle did not break on impact, thus the victims avoided serious, possibly life-threatening injury.

The boys were yelling “fire”, alerting the adults to what had just occurred. One of the occupants at 15 Miruela Avenue ran out of the home into the night, but told officers they were not able to see anyone.

Roger Sikes-Kline ran into the room and tried to put the fire out before St Augustine firefighters arrived at the scene. When he realized that he wasn’t able to extinguish the flame, he picked up the Snapple bottle and moved it to the kitchen.

The bottle shattered on the tile floor, spilling the accelerant, flaming up and setting a bag of dog food on fire. The homeowner grabbed a towel, absorbed the fuel, and threw the flaming towel outside the residence. According to reports, the device smelled of gasoline.

Firefighters responded with Ladder 47, Engine 42 and 43. None of the injuries at the scene required transportation of the occupants to the hospital.

Police are continuing their arson investigation; which includes analysis of physical evidence collected at the scene by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.