ROCKLEDGE, Fla. – Rockledge police said a Pontiac Grand Prix parked in a driveway on Nicklaus Drive was purposely set on fire Tuesday evening by next-door-neighbor Mark Daniel Whitman.
Police wrote in their report that Whitman was seen on another neighbor's surveillance video "walking around the victim's vehicle that was parked in the driveway... splashed some kind of liquid accelerant (gasoline) on the vehicle and lit the vehicle on fire with wood matches that were recovered on the vehicle. The defendant is seen on video surveillance after he sets the vehicle on fire walking off in the direction of his residence..."
Police blame an ongoing feud "involving the defendant continually setting open fires on and around his property. According to victim, he has called the fire department on multiple occasions to report the fires and the victims feels that the defendant committed this offense in retaliation."
People who live along Nicklaus Drive tell us firefighters have been called out to Whitman's home several times because of fires in his yard.
"With a 55-gallon drum burning rats and wood and trash in the front yard," said John, another neighbor who helped put out the car fire with a fire extinguisher to keep the flames from spreading to the rest of the house. "This is the city, you're not allowed to do that, that's common sense."
When News 6 knocked on Whitman's door, Whitman's daughter and her boyfriend said Whitman is innocent until proven guilty and that they have a crazy neighbor.
Whitman is out of jail on bond. His daughter said he was not home Wednesday afternoon.