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A man has been charged with terrorism after police say he crashed his car into a Las Vegas solar plant and set it on fire.
Police responded to a call about a trespasser at the Invenergy solar plant north of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and when officers arrived, they found a burning car in a generator pit. 8 news now reports.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police alleged that 34-year-old Mohammad Mesmarian, who was arrested Thursday 30 miles from the scene, sneaked into the plant and set his Toyota Camry on fire as he sat and watched the blaze.
Memarian reportedly told police that he had burned the car at a Tesla plant and that he did it “for the future.”
The attack on the Las Vegas plant comes amid recent attacks on power plants across the United States, including in Washington state, which left thousands without power on Christmas Day.
Mohammad Mesmarian, 34, was arrested for allegedly ramming his Toyota Camry into a generator pit and setting it on fire to damage the Invenergy solar plant in Las Vegas.
Mesmarian (above) was arrested Thursday 30 miles from the crime scene. Police said he told them he attacked the plant ‘for the future’
Police told 8 News Now that Mesmairian drove his car through the fence of the solar plant after the employees left Tuesday afternoon.
The man allegedly stayed at the site until midnight, with security cameras capturing the moment he set the car on fire inside the generator pit.
Investigators also found an iPhone connected to Mesmarian in the burned-out car, along with two laptop computers. His car was registered in Idaho.
Police eventually located the suspect at a campground on Lake Mead in Boulder City, 30 miles from the solar plant.
Mesmairan faces charges of committing an act of terrorism, arson, destruction of personal property, and felony escape of an inmate.
Police said the investigation is continuing as questions remain about why and how Mesmarian ended up so far from the scene of the crime when his car was totaled.
No one was injured in the accident, but police said the plant had sustained “significant damage” that could take up to two years to repair.
The facility currently provides power to MGM properties in the area.
Pictured: The wreckage of the suspect’s car at the power plant, where employees estimated it would take two years to repair the damage.
Mesmairian’s arrest comes just days after two men were charged with attacks on four Washington state power substations that left 14,000 people without power on Christmas Day.
Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, were arrested Saturday and charged with conspiracy to damage power facilities and possession of an unregistered firearm.
The duo told investigators their plan was to rob a cash register at a local business, according to the criminal complaint filed Saturday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma.
After cutting power to the area, subjecting people to a cold and dark holiday weekend, the men punched a hole in the lock of a business and robbed its cash register.
Nighttime attacks on Pierce County substations knocked out power to customers during the holidays and caused about $3 million in damage.
Jeremy Crahan, 40, was one of two men arrested and charged with attacking Washington state power substations over the holidays.
All four of Washington state’s power plants were attacked within hours on Christmas Day.
The four substations that were attacked were the Graham and Elk Plain substations and the Kapowsin and Hemlock substations.
Crahan and Greenwood face up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 10 years for possession of an unregistered firearm.
In recent weeks, there have been eight attacks on power plants in Washington and Oregon.
The attacks were preceded by a warning from the federal police of a threat to the local power grid.
Lawmakers in previous weeks have hesitated to label the attacks domestic terrorism without suspects having been named.
Many, however, believe that is the case.
In recent weeks, there have been eight attacks on power plants in Washington and nearby Oregon, prompting them to be investigated by the FBI.
In December, Washington state law enforcement sources said they received an FBI memo warning them of possible attacks in the area.
Prior to the Washington attacks, North Carolina experienced an online attack potentially triggered by opponents of a drag show.
The shooting attack took place in the small town of Southern Pines on December 3, knocking out power to more than 40,000 residents.
Department of Homeland Security officials warned that extremists have harbored “credible and specific plans to attack electrical infrastructure since at least 2020.”
Others have argued that the US power grid, which comprises more than 7,300 plants and connects more than 145 million Americans, needs better security to prevent such attacks.
The trope of attacking energy infrastructure, the power grid or critical infrastructure “is an old tenet of the American far-right,” said Ali Winston, a journalist who has tracked terror threats.