Fire bombing of Du Quoin police cars fails

There's a thin line between malicious mischief and criminal intent.

The failed 4:55 a.m. fire bombing Wednesday of two City of Du Quoin Police Department squad cars parked at officers' homes ended in an armed mid-day raid on an East Cole Street home and the arrest of at least two subjects.

A total of four subjects are being interviewed in the investigation, according to Chief of Police Jamie Ellermeyer.

At this writing authorities say there is no clear motive for the failed attack. Chief Ellermeyer suspects it is part of an arduous and apparently unbridled anti-law enforcement culture seen in places like Ferguson, Mo--fueled by social networking propaganda from ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

"Our department has had no direct contact with the people involved in this," said Chief Ellermeyer.

At 4:55 a.m. Sgt. Lee Prince of the Du Quoin Police Department heard a disturbance outside his home. A subject had just thrown a fire bomb--commonly called a Molotov cocktail at the back of his police squad car while it was parked in his driveway. The crude incendiary device typically consists of a bottle filled with flammable liquid and some sort of a paper or cloth wick to ignite it.

The quick-thinking officer got into the squad car and pulled it forward before the burning device had a chance to cause serious damage to the vehicle. The rear of the vehicle was singed, but was largely undamaged.

Shortly after that, another fire bomb was thrown at a second Du Quoin squad car parked in front of officer Rustin Juhl's home on North Peach Street. That fire bomb missed the car completely.

It didn't take long for other Du Quoin officers, county and state law enforcement personnel and federal authorities from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to become involved.

The newspaper understands that evidence from the fire bombs themselves and possibly video from one of two nursing homes across the street were used to close in on identifying the vehicle from which the fire bombs were thrown. From the evidence, authorities came up with the names of suspects and an address. By mid-morning authorities used the Du Quoin Police Department as a staging area for an armed raid on a home at 212 East Cole Street in Du Quoin. With a search warrant in hand, police blocked off both ends of the street not knowing what they would be confronted by. Bulletproof vests and assault weapons were part of the safety protocol during the noon-day raid. Police vehicles dotted the intersection of East Cole and North Washington Street.

Police took four people into custody for questioning. Two were arrested. They are Samuel Dunson, 19, of Du Quoin and Freedom Davis, 19, of Corning, Ark. described as a friend. Two others were questioned, but by the end of the afternoon had not been arrested. At the outset they are charged with attempted arson with an incendiary device. Chief Ellermeyer said other charges are a certainty.

Regardless of how well-planned or impromptu the attacks were, they involve assaults on police vehicles at officer's homes--serious by any measure.

Chief Ellermeyer said after working their shifts, officers should find safe haven in their own homes. "We have no tolerance for this," Chief Ellermeyer said as law enforcement officers assessed the incident, pieced together the evidence, followed the leads and their instincts, identified the assailants and apprehended them quickly with on one getting hurt.

Late Wednesday afternoon both men were still in custody at the Du Quoin Police Department as interviews continued.