Arson investigation on Long Island after family's cars burned in Hicksville

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (WABC) -- An arson investigation in Hicksville is now focusing on what a neighbor saw, someone pouring gas on a neighbor's cars and then setting them on fire.

Eyewitness News obtained cell phone video which shows both cars on fire.

It happened around 2 a.m. Monday on Morgan Street in Hicksville.

"My friend called me on the phone saying that my cars were on fire. I came right away and I saw this," said Odilia Perez, a car owner.

Perez thinks she and her family were targeted, but she's not quite sure why.

"I think they knew who they were doing, because it was specifically my cars. (But why would someone do that to you?) No idea. No idea. Because my husband he's a landscaper and I stay with my kids at home, no idea who would do something like that," Perez said.

A neighbor told us they saw a suspicious black car hanging around the house the day before.

Neighbors say while they don't feel directly threatened by whoever did this; the whole situation is rattling their nerves.

"It's scary because we were told that it was arson. This is my neighborhood. My friends live here, my family lives here, and I'm just happy no one was hurt in the house. That's the main thing," said Mandie Anderson, a neighbor.

These cars are the only cars that the Perez family owns.

Their insurance won't cover the damage.

So now they're trying to figure out what to do.

"It's very upsetting because like I say, I have three little ones and I use my car for them and now we have nothing," Perez said.

If you have any information on this you are asked to call the Nassau County Police at 1-800-244-TIPS.