Firefighters extinguish autoshop car fire and discover threats scrawled on building

Investigators are trying to determine whether a fire that engulfed three cars next to a West Adams auto shop is related to graffiti threats against the business owner’s family.

Firefighters responded to a call at 2:43 a.m. Tuesday to Richard’s Auto Repair in the 3500 block of Crenshaw Boulevard. When they arrived, a blaze had already destroyed three cars and was spreading to two more, said Los Angeles City Fire Capt. Erik Scott.

The firefighters also found messages in red graffiti, scrawled on a white wall of the auto shop and on the metal garage door, Scott said. One reads, “I will kill you” and the other reads, “I will kill your family Richard.”

“The business owner is unaware of anyone that would potentially ignite the fire and write these remarks on the wall,” Scott said.

No one was injured in the fire, which caused minor heat damage to a nearby building, Scott said. About 20 cars are packed into the space where the fire happened, and it is surrounded by three businesses.

“We’ve had the LAFD arson section arrive on scene, talk to the business owner as well as workers, carefully examine burn patterns, comb through debris, look for evidence and check for possible video surveillance in an attempt to determine who caused this fire and bring them to justice,” he said.

Reach Sonali Kohli at Sonali.Kohli@latimes.com or on Twitter @Sonali_Kohli.